Changing the start of the school day

[Angela]

Okay, I am totally against changing the time of school. If you have a child that works or is in any after school activity this is really going to mess this up. Our kids do not get into bed till very late as it is. I do not see how in the world this will save money. My preference would be to go to a 4 day week. That is truly the only way to save money!

[Darlene Hunter]

Isn't the school board made up of elected officials? Don't we as citizens of The United States voice our concerns/questions/opinions when the people we elect are voting for something we don't agree with? Why should it be any different when it is a school board?

A comment was made that there weren't answers at recent meetings. Comments like "That hadn't been considered." Here is one that I don't know if was considered or not, but if this change is made, I sure would like to know how it will be dealt with, and it needs to be dealt with before a decision is made. There are students at Karns, Powell and HVA that attend classes at Byington Solway. If this change occurrs, the students at Byington will be on one schedule and at least the students at HVA will be on another. Just how will they be able to attend their classes? Classes that they were told they could attend when they were rezoned?
I just want to add that this particular concern does not effect any of my children. But it is a concern that needs to be answered.

[Maria Ryan]

What happened to early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Where is Dr. M. getting his information. My high schooler always performs better in his early morning classes. He always struggles in the late afternoon classes. I really cannot imagine all the problems that going to school until 4:30 will cause. I really really would hate to home school my kids, but we as parents are totallly losing any control of raising our own kids in the public school system!

[granma2]

I actually believe it makes a lot of sense. Teenagers don't sleep so much because they're lazy. They stay up late and sleep late because their body is on a different rhythm than that of young children or adults. To say they need to just adapt and get over it because they're going to be in the workforce is akin to saying infants need to stay awake more because they're eventually going to kindergarten. Teens are responding to their natural body rhythm, not being cantankerous. Perhaps their educational pursuits would improve if we listened more to scientific research. This particular research has been around for a long time. We don't often listen or react to that type of research because to do so costs money or people have knee-jerk reactions to change.

[Mary]

You are absolutely right about the research on teenagers sleep patterns. If that is indeed the case then why not have all high schools on the 9:30 schedule? Put elementary and middle on the same schedule and run those bus routes separate from the high schools.

[Darlene Hunter]

I have a 19 yr old that likes to get up at 3 PM. I wonder how many other teens are on her sleep cycle? Maybe she should have gone to school from 7 PM to 4 AM. This seems to be when she is awake the most

[granma2]

I'm basing my response on listening to Karen Carson on the WBIR news on Sunday, but I think it is because they can use fewer buses overall in Knox County if they use the same bus for some middle schools and high schools. After bus "x" delivers students to middle school, they could use the same bus "x" to deliver students to a high school that starts later. Putting all high schools on the late start would defeat the purpose. For schools that have middle/high schools that are right next to each other (example: Halls or Farragut) the bus "x" delivers students within minutes of each other already. I'm pretty sure it has to do with reducing the total number of buses that KCS contracts.

[granma2]

I think it would be an option if you wanted elementary students and middle/high school students on the same bus. Doing that would probably save much more than you've mentioned, but I think there would be a tremendous outcry against that.

[Darlene Hunter]

I don't think that would work even if people would allow all grades on a bus at the same time. (which I am against) You would have to have many more busses on the road at the same time. Surely that wouldn't save any money. Several busses are overcrowed enough with just middle/high on them.

[Darlene Hunter]

Staggering the times still doesn't answer the question of what to do when students take classes at two different high schools that are on two different schedules?

[granma2]

If you do a search on The News-Sentinel or perhaps WBIR, you will find articles that explain the bus staggering. I tried to explain it above, but you might feel better if you read it yourself. I feel there has been a good explanation in the media. As for high school children being on the same clock as adults, when their bodies mature (about age 22) they will need less sleep and return to the same clock as adults.

[Darlene Hunter]

I have read them and nothing shows an answer to my question. Powell, Karns and Byington will all start at 8:30. HVA will start at 9:30. How do the students from HVA that attend classes at Byington get to class at the same time?

[Bob Hunter]

There is a reason the research has been around a long time but not acted on - it is made to say what someone wants it to say. I have 3 daughters - 1 is a night owl and the other 2 have absolutely no problem getting up early and seem to perform better when they do. Any body pattern, including sleep, can be changed by discipline. When I was a teen I rarely slept more than 4-5 hours a night and I graduated in the top 5% of my class in a private school with tougher standards.
If we quit listening to research and taught discipline everything, including grades, would improve.