Seattle Board Approves Later School Start Times In ‘Historic’ Vote

Seattle World School on the Meany Campus on 20th Ave at Thomas will also start at 8:30 AM.

Starting school at a later time would help benefit the students’ learning and health.

The changes will take place next school year.

School Board director Stephan Blanford, who voted against the changes, said he was concerned about the schools with the 9:35 a.m. start time and how the changed times seemed to benefit most, but not all, schools. “This is a historic moment”.

Beginning next fall, high schools and middle schools will start almost an hour later, at 8:45 a.m., and most elementary schools will start nearly an hour earlier, at 7:55 a.m.

You can view the list of start time changes for all schools here (PDF).

“Tier three students’ best learning should not be sacrificed for the betterment of everyone”.

“Right now, it’s very bad”, said parent Laura Burke.

Meanwhile, elementary schools start at 8:40 or 9:30 – despite the fact that young kids’ brains are usually ready to learn much earlier in the morning.

The board’s approval of the contract extension was created to send ensure stability in Seattle Public Schools’ central office, which before Nyland had seen four superintendents come and go during the last decade. “In the winter, it’s dark”.

Jonathan Knapp, president of the Seattle Education Association, told KOMO-TV the decision was “a good comprise”, adding that that “with this, more than 83 percent of Seattle school children’s academic work will now be better aligned with their sleep need”.

Parent Carin Towne said the move could disadvantage others.

The change in the school schedule has been as result of the movement of parents, teachers, and sleep scientists, with the support of teachers unions in Seattle, to adjust school time to the biological clocks of the adolescent students.