For high school students of the Wayzata School District, it is time to adjust the alarm clocks.

Wayzata High School, the largest high school in Minnesota with an enrollment of over 3,000 students, made a big decision on December 14th: starting in the fall of 2016, high school students will begin school at 8:20 a.m. (as opposed to their current start time of 7:30 a.m.) Three elementary schools with start ten minutes earlier, the other five will begin at 7:45 a.m., and the middle schools will start at 9:10 a.m.

With this revelation, many Wayzata students breathed a sigh of relief.

Alexis Hayden, a sophomore at Wayzata High School, spoke to the school board prior to the vote. She mentioned the many students she sees everyday that fall asleep during class in the morning, after long nights of homework from AP classes.

“I feel like it will really benefit me as a student-athlete,” she said, emphasizing that the later start time will help her balance school work and other activities.  

However, it stirred up commotion with the parents of the elementary students.

Many residents with younger children asked the school board to reconsider their decision Monday night. They claimed that with earlier start times would come earlier bedtimes, which would then result in less family time on weeknights and disruptive sleep schedules for both students and parents.

Ethan Roberts, a parent of two elementary-aged students in the district who opposes earlier start times, voiced his opinion to the audience of the board meeting.

“They’re not listening. It’s sad. It’s very divisive,” Roberts said. “The superintendent never once cited any research that said that earlier start times are beneficial to younger students.”

AVHS senior Jacob Swanstrom agrees, in that we would not benefit from later start times.

Even though he maintains a rigorous course load, Swanstrom does not find himself losing sleep because of homework.

“I like the schedule as it is. If we got out later than 2:20, everyone’s school days would seem longer and we would want to sleep longer,” Swanstrom says.

The principals of the elementary schools, however, were in favor of the time changes.

Board member Cheryl Polzin said, “We have two elementary schools that are highly successful, and they start at 7:45. They have for 18 or 19 years.”

According to a report prepared by the district, the plan starts the elementary schools at a time that will match their natural levels of alertness, as it is easier for younger children to adjust to the earlier start times.

As teens hit puberty, their sleep patterns change. The National Sleep Foundation says that the main effects of this change in patterns are increased daytime sleepiness and sleep phase delays, which means a greater tendency to not fall asleep until later in the day. While the recommended amount of sleep for teenagers each night is 8-10 hours, students are averaging only 7 hours of sleep.

The school start time plan is designed to avoid the effects of the major sleep deprivation issue among adolescent students.

Recently, there has even been some talk of time changes within District 196.

Michael Bolsoni, assistant principal at AVHS, says the site councils in the district will be looking at research in regards to advantages and disadvantages of later start times, discussing the topic, and giving feedback to the district office during meetings over the months of January and February.

One of the main concerns the district has covered is the dangers for younger children. With factors such as increased darkness, distracted drivers, and large snowbanks, it can be more dangerous for younger children to be outside at the bus stops earlier in the morning.

In response to Wayzata’s decision, Bolsoni would like to see changes within AVHS as well.

“Yes, I would support an 8:00 start, if we could financially figure it out and also determine appropriate times for the elementary schools to start.”

For students that want to get involved in this, Bolsoni suggests attending school board meetings, contacting school board members, or giving information to Mr. Degenaar to pass on the to district office.

St. Louis Park, Mahtomedi, South Washington County, and St. Paul schools have all experimented with later start times. In the fall of 2016, Wayzata will join these schools in an attempt to better complement students’ sleep schedules.

Will the decision be made to add Apple Valley High School and District 196 to that list in the near future? For now, let’s sleep on it.