Changing high school start times will not solve teenage sleep issues

The Nevada State Board of Education recently passed a regulation requiring later start times for Nevada public high schools. This unfunded mandate is unneeded and unwanted.

The issue supposedly being addressed is the rampant sleep deprivation among adolescents. The Board believes moving to later start times at high schools will effectively address sleep deficits and improve academic performance. This is based on the faulty premise that the causal effect of sleep deficiencies are school start times.

Start times are not the cause of sleep deficiencies. Requiring high schools to start later in the morning will not effectively address the perceived sleep needs of teenagers.

For decades, teenagers have not received the recommended amount of sleep. Caffeine intake, social media, texting and video games add to the sleep deficit. This is a social and family issue that is not solvable through political or educational methods.

As students transition from kindergarten, through elementary grades, to middle school and high school, increased levels of maturity and commitment are necessary for academic success. This includes the individual responsibility to protect one’s own health and well-being. Enabling poor personal habits will not improve student outcomes.

The school experience should help build resilience and work ethic. The goal is to help high school students successfully transition to adulthood and create cooperative, productive citizens. Most employers, colleges and the military do not cater to individual sleep needs.

Alarmingly, State Board members chose to ignore the pleas of both the Nevada Association of School Boards (NASB) and the Nevada Association of School Superintendents (NASS). Every county public school district in Nevada is against this mandate. It is sheer arrogance for the Board to put impractical idealism over the experience and expertise of professional educators. 

Idealistic intentions aside, there is a lack of evidence that this regulation will improve student outcomes; although it may seem like a noble idea. Without substantial proof of efficacy, this is a misguided decision based on scanty research. 

Studies presented to the Board were not widely shared outside its membership. There was little public discussion as to the rationale of the decision and no compelling evidence presented to support it. The flippant phrase that “this is a no-brainer” (a quote from the Board president) failed to assuage the valid concerns of practicing educators. Dissent has been blocked by some individual Board members.

There was no clear support for implementing later start times for high schools in any of the studies. Most were unrelated to the causal effects of school schedules. The studies had self-described limitations and imprecise conclusions. The only common thread of the studies is that adults do not believe teenagers get enough sleep each night.

One study half-heartedly recommended later school start times but came with two major caveats. First, a need for pilot programs at a few selected schools to test efficacy before full implementation. Second, that strict protocols be in place to accurately measure effects on student outcomes. These important recommendations have been ignored.

Negative impacts on transportation, athletics and extracurricular activities, student jobs, family daycare, zero hours, four-day school weeks and school communities have been expressed to the Board. These concerns far outweigh any potential benefits to a minority of the student body.

Without preestablished measures of success or failure, this regulation is a political charade. As with most legislative or bureaucratic educational initiatives in Nevada, this is clearly aimed at the Clark County School District (CCSD); and comes at the expense of the other county school districts.

Transporting students is already problematic in Clark County. Addressing this mandate creates more difficulties and expense for the district. Possible options will not help high schools meet the needs of students and parents, and may disrupt elementary and middle school schedules.

Enough circus music is playing inside CCSD. There is no need for the State Board to add a fourth ring to the district.

The Board’s disregard of input from educators, NASB and NASS is perplexing. Delaying high school start times will not result in measurable improvement of academic outcomes. Board members should immediately rescind their approval of this regulation.