Student Sleep Health and Stakeholder Perceptions of School Start Times in the Fayetteville-Manlius School District
By Daniel Lewin, Ph.D., Deborah Temkin, Ph.D., Sarah Her, M.A.
Introduction
In February 2019, the Fayetteville-Manlius School District (FMSD) School Board approved an initiative to a contractual partnership with Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) and Child Trends (CT), to evaluate challenges, opportunities and benefits of changing school start times.
The three-part contract involves an assessment of challenges and opportunities; collaboration with the FMSD department of transportation to evaluate costs associated with three to five bell schedule scenarios; and a community survey followed by town hall meetings to discuss results of
the evaluation and to educate the community about the rationale for school start time change and solicit community input in an open forum. Table 1 summarizes the current bell schedule for elementary, middle, and high schools in FMSD. This report summarizes the results of the community survey.
Table 1. Current bell schedules for FMSD
| Start Time | End Time | |
| Elementary | 8:45 a.m. | 3:25 p.m. |
| Middle | 8 a.m. | 2:40 p.m. |
| High | 7:45 a.m. | 2:07 p.m. |
CNMC-CT and FMSD fielded the online community survey from October 15, 2019 through November 8, 2019. Survey participants were required to provide a valid email address to complete the survey to reduce the potential for duplication. The survey asked community stakeholders to self-identify their relationship to the district as either a parent of a current student, a school staff member, or an unaffiliated community member. Parents were directed to respond to a series of questions about their children’s school, sleep, and academic and extra-curricular activities. All stakeholders were then asked about their opinions of current school start times and proposed alternative start times.
A total of 1,566 community members completed the survey. Figure 1 provides the breakdown of survey takers by their relationship to FMSD. It should be stressed that this sample is a convenience sample (i.e., survey takers opted in to taking the survey) and not a random selection of the FMSD community. As such, the sample may not be fully representative of the FMSD community.
Of the parents represented, 46.8 percent had a child in elementary school, 41.7 percent had a child in middle school, and 32.9 percent had a child in high school (percentages do not sum to 100 as many parents reported on multiple children).
Student Sleep
The survey asked parents to report on the weekday and weekend sleep habits of each child enrolled in FMSD. Parents provided data for 2,317 students (n=894 elementary; n=770 middle; n=653 high).
Table 2 presents the average bed times, wake times, and sleep durations for
students at each grade level.
| Weekday | Weekend | |||||
| Bed Time | Wake Time | Sleep Duration | Bed Time | Wake Time | Sleep Duration | |
| Elementary | 8:30 p.m. | 6:59 a.m. | 10.5 hours | 9:02 p.m. | 7:33 a.m. | 10.5 hours |
| Middle | 9:25 p.m. | 6:35 a.m. | 9.2 hours | 9:58 p.m. | 8:28 a.m. | 10.2 hours |
| High | 10:10 p.m. | 6:19 a.m. | 7.75 hours | 10:35 p.m. | 9:27 a.m. | 10.0 hours |
Although parents tend to overestimate children’s sleep, as compared to student self-report, these data indicate that on average, high school students are receiving less than the 8.5 to 10 hours of sleep per night recommended for adolescents.
In fact, while parents report that 95 percent of their middle school-aged students are receiving more than 8 hours of sleep per night, they report only 47.5 percent of high school students are receiving this amount of sleep. Further, parents report that their high school students in FMSD have large discrepancies between their school day and weekend sleep durations, on average 2.25 hours.
This is evidence of insufficient sleep during the week and the need for ‘catch up’ sleep on weekends which replace sleep loss during the school week. The drive for increased sleep and a shift in the timing of sleep on
weekends is called “social jetlag” which is associated with impaired health and cognitive functioning. This is comparable to living in Central or Pacific Time zones on weekends and returning to eastern standard time on Monday morning.
Parents report that a significantly higher percentage of high school students (64.2%) have trouble waking up in the morning than middle (47.8%) and elementary (48.7%) students. Taken together, short sleep, social jet lag and difficulty waking in the morning are signs of deficient sleep and circadian regulation.
Perceptions of Current and Proposed School Start Times
Current Start Times
Table 3 presents how stakeholders perceive current high school start times. A majority of community stakeholders (73 percent) perceive the high school start time as too early, with 20 percent reporting the current time is “just right.” Breakdowns between stakeholder groups are as follows: 74 percent of parents, 67 percent of school staff, and 67 percent of other community
members perceived the high school start time as too early. Among parent groups, 67 percent of those with only elementary-school-aged children perceived the high school start time as too early, while over three-quarters of parents with high school aged students (79%) indicated the
current high school start time is too early.
Table 3. Stakeholder perceptions of current high school start time
| Too Early | Just Right | Too Late | No Opinion | |
| Overall | 72.9% | 20.5% | 0.6% | 6.0% |
| Parents | 73.9% | 19.5% | 0.5% | 6.2% |
| – Elementary Only | 66.6% | 20.7% | 1.7% | 11.1% |
| – Middle Only | 78.0% | 16.8% | 0.0% | 5.2% |
| – High School Only | 76.5% | 21.6% | 0.0% | 2.0% |
| – Middle and Elementary | 77.4% | 17.8% | 0.0% | 4.8% |
| – High and Elementary | 77.8% | 14.8% | 0.0% | 7.4% |
| – Middle and High | 82.1% | 16.7% | 0.0% | 13.9% |
| – All levels* | ||||
| School Staff | 66.7% | 28.0% | 0.0% | 5.3% |
| Other Stakeholders | 66.7% | 25.0% | 5.0% | 3.3% |
Table 4 presents how stakeholders perceive the current middle school start time. Perceptions on the middle school start time were more mixed, with 42 percent of the community indicating the current middle school start time is too early and 48 percent indicating it is “just right.” This split is consistent among parents with middle-school aged students (50% “too early”; 46% “just
right”).
Table 4. Stakeholder perceptions of current middle school start time
| Too Early | Just Right | Too Late | No Opinion | |
| Overall | 41.9% | 47.7% | 1.9% | 8.6% |
| Parents | 43.7% | 46.5% | 1.5% | 8.3% |
| – Elementary Only | 45.0% | 42.5% | 1.9% | 10.5% |
| – Middle Only | 50% | 46.4% | 1.0% | 2.6% |
| – High School Only | 34.4% | 44.0% | 2.4% | 19.2% |
| – Middle and Elementary | 52.4% | 45.2% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| – High and Elementary | 37.0% | 51.9% | 0.0% | 11.1% |
| – Middle and High | 41.8% | 55.2% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| – All levels* | ||||
| School Staff | 28.0% | 57.6% | 2.3% | 12.1% |
| Other Stakeholders | 35.0% | 50.0% | 8.3% | 6.7% |
*Percentages for parents with students in all levels are suppressed due to small cell size.
The survey asked stakeholders to consider whether moving the elementary school start time to 7:45 a.m. would be too early, too late, or just right. Just over half of respondents (51.4%) indicated this would be “just right” while 41 percent of respondents indicated this would be “too early.”
Table 5 presents the suggested start times provided by respondents. More than half of respondents suggested starting high schools 8:30 a.m. or later. On average, stakeholder suggested that high schools should start at 8:25 a.m., middle schools at 8:17 a.m., and elementary schools at 8:05 a.m.
Table 5. Stakeholder perceptions of current middle school start time
| Before 8 a.m. | 8-8:15 a.m. | 8:30 a.m. | 8:45 p.m. | After 9 a.m. | |
| Elementary | 39.2% | 21.7% | 10.9% | 26.4% | 1.7% |
| Middle | 19.9% | 43.5% | 23.8% | 11.8% | 1.1% |
| High | 26.2% | 18.6% | 27.9% | 25.6% | 1.8% |
Proposed Scenarios
The survey additionally asked participants to assess five potential scenarios and select which they would most and least like FMSD to consider, as follows:
- Flip elementary and high school start times (elementary moves to 7:45 a.m., high school moves to 8:45 a.m.)
- Slide all times later (elementary would start at 9:15 a.m., middle at 8:30 a.m., high at 8:15 a.m.)
- Slide all times and flip elementary and high school (high school start at 9:15 a.m., middle at 8:30 a.m., elementary at 8:15 a.m.)
- Condense school start times (FMSD would purchase additional buses to allow middle and high schools to start at the same time)
- Leave current start times
Table 6 presents the most and least preferred options for all community stakeholders. There was no clear preference among the respondents. Approximately one-quarter of respondents selected each of the “flip” (25.5%) and “slide and flip” (24.8%) scenarios as their most preferred.
Conversely, a similar percentage selected these scenarios as their least preferred (27% flip, 22% slide and flip). Approximately 14 percent indicated that leaving current start times was their preferred scenario, and 21 percent indicated it was their least preferred scenario.
Table 6. Most and least preferred school start time options
| Most like to see | Least like to see | |
| Flip | 25.5% | 27.1% |
| Slide | 14.7% | 14.3% |
| Slide and flip | 24.8% | 21.9% |
| Condense | 16.5% | 14.3% |
| Leave current start time | 14.1% | 21.3% |
| Other | 4.4% | 1.2% |
To better understand these preferences, we disaggregated by stakeholder type. Tables detailing these disaggregated data are included in the appendix. School staff were significantly more likely to endorse keeping current start times as their most preferred option (23.5%) as compared to parents (12.9%) and community members (20.3%). Community members were significantly
more likely to endorse flipping school start times over the slide and flip scenario. For least preferred scenarios, parents were more likely to dislike the flip scenario (28.4%) as compared to school staff (18.3%) and community members (18.6%) and school staff were more likely to dislike the slide and flip scenario (21.4%) compared to parents (13.5%) and community members
(15.3%).
Among parents, those with elementary-aged students were significantly less likely to endorse flipping school start times (17.6% vs. 31.7%) but were slightly more likely to endorse the slide and flip scenario (29.2% vs. 22.2%). Further, parents with elementary-aged students were significantly more likely to say that the flip scenario was their least preferred scenario (40.6% vs. 17.4%). This pattern is flipped for those with high-school aged students, with 36 percent of
parents with high school aged students endorsing the flip scenario (vs. 19.6%) and 20.5 percent endorsing the slide and flip scenario (vs. 28.0%).
Perceived Challenges
The survey asked respondents to consider and rank potential challenges associated with the “flip” scenario where elementary school start times move to 7:45 a.m. and high schools move to 8:45 a.m. The top challenges noted included parental work schedules, after school child care, after school athletic practices, after school extracurricular activities, athletic game schedules, and
before school care. Table 6 notes the number of respondents that endorsed each of the potential challenges and how each scenario ranked, taking into account how respondents who endorsed each response ranked the scenario compared to others. For example, although slightly more respondents included “after school academic enrichment program attendance” as a
challenge, it ranked lower than “before school child care” once weighted by respondent rankings.
Table 7. Potential challenges to “flip” scenario
| Rank | # Respondents Endorsing | |
| Changes in parents’ work schedule | 1 | 755 |
| After school care | 2 | 719 |
| After school athletic practice schedules | 3 | 712 |
| After school extracurricular program attendance | 4 | 688 |
| Athletic game schedules | 5 | 665 |
| Before school care | 6 | 590 |
| After school academic enrichment program attendance | 7 | 591 |
| Student after school employment | 8 | 527 |
| Changes in teachers’ work schedules | 9 | 504 |
| Before school extracurricular program attendance | 10 | 404 |
| Before school academic enrichment program attendance | 11 | 394 |
| Parent participation in school activities | 12 | 397 |
| Use of school facilities by non-school groups (e.g. Scout troops) | 13 | 370 |
| Commuting distance | 14 | 331 |
| Before school athletic practice schedules | 15 | 383 |
| Changes in staff commute times | 16 | 357 |
| Use of practice fields by non-school groups (e.g. Recreation Department) | 17 | 361 |
Qualitative Comments
The survey provided participants the opportunity to provide general comments about school start times. A total of 680 participants provided comments. As reflected in the quantitative survey data, comments were mixed between broad support for delaying high school start times,
concerns about advancing elementary school start times, and skepticism about the efficacy of changing school start times on improving adolescent sleep.
Many commenters noted that bus pickup times are often significantly earlier than school start times, requiring current high school students to get on the bus before 7a.m. This was noted as a particular concern about the proposed “flip” scenario; many commenters noted that while they generally supported moving elementary start times earlier, moving them to the current high
school start time would require these youngest students to wait for school buses in the dark. As one commenter wrote, “I like the idea of moving elementary start times earlier, but not too early. I think its unrealistic to try to get little kids ready and out the door to catch a bus at 7am
for a 7:45a.m. start time.”
Many commenters referenced before and/or after school child care with the proposed changes. These comments cited individualized concerns, with some positively noting that moving elementary start times earlier would reduce the need for before school care, while others noted that the shift might require additional after school care, which would be more difficult with high school students still in school when elementary students are released.
Several commenters asked for additional details on when schools would end with the proposed start times. Many suggested FMSD adjust schedules within the school day (length of classes, block scheduling, etc.) to reduce impact on school end times, while delaying school start times.
Other commenters also requested FMSD consider reducing homework loads to help promote students’ abilities to go to bed earlier. Others raised concerns about student athletes missing 8th period and wanting additional consideration for ensuring athletes will not miss instruction for participation in games, particularly with districts that are not considering start time changes.
A sizeable number of commenters noted that adolescents will have to get up early when they enter college and/or the workforce and that they disagreed with the effort to delay school start times.
Many more comments, however, praised FMSD for following the science on adolescent sleep and expressed desire for these changes to come sooner rather than later. As one commenter wrote, “[w]e should be flexible enough to change the schedule to respond to the science. We want to maximize our kids’ chances for success. Please make this happen.”
Summary and Recommendations
This report provide a summary overview of FMSD stake holders opinions about changes in school start times to meet recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics that adolescents school start times should be 8:30am at the latest.
Sleep
In brief, average parent reported sleep duration for middle (9.2 hours, recommended for ages 12-14: 9.5-10 hours) and high school (7.45 hours; recommended 8.50-9.5 hours) students were below recommended ranges. There was documented over sleeping on weekends and a shift in timing of sleep was also evident which is a sign of inadequate sleep in this age group.
These estimated sleep times are comparable if not slightly higher than national averages.
Start Time Preferences and Challenges
A majority of stakeholders rated high school start times as too early and there was a more even split in ratings of the timing of middles school start times. There was a good deal of variability in preferences for the type of change in school start times. A “flip” of high school and elementary school start times received the most ratings with about a quarter of the sample rating the ‘flip’ as either most or least preferable. The “flip and slide” received fewer ratings with a lower percentage rating this scenario as least preferable.
Challenges
Ratings of potential challenges associated with school start times showed the top 5 concerns being: parent work schedules, after school child care, after school athletic practice, extracurricular activity attendance and athletic game schedules. About one third of the sample provided brief written comments that were mixed between broad support for delaying high school start times, concerns about advancing elementary school start times, and skepticism
about the efficacy of changing school start times on improving adolescent sleep. Other concerns included the efficiency of some of the busing schedules with particular concerns that buses drop high school students at school long before school day starts.
Next Steps
Based on results of the survey there was general agreement for the need to
change high school start times. Based on parent preference and FMSD administrators’ goals, it will be important to select several school start time scenarios and estimate costs and feasibility. The most likely candidates based on stakeholder ratings might be the ’flip’, the ‘slide and flip’, ‘condense’ and ‘slide’. To address stakeholder challenges and to develop responsive
opportunities to address the challenges, two town hall meetings will be conducted with stake holders in the early spring of 2020. The costs of various scenarios will be presented to provide context for these changes.
Appendix
Table A.1. Most preferred school start time scenarios
| Flip | Slide | Slide & Flip | Condense | No Changes | Other | |
| Overall | 25.5% | 14.7% | 24.8% | 16.5% | 14.1% | 4.4% |
| Parents | 25.0% | 16.0% | 25.5% | 16.4% | 12.9% | 4.2% |
| – Elementary | 20.2% | 18.0% | 27.4% | 19.3% | 11.6% | 3.6% |
| – Middle | 22.6% | 17.4% | 26.8% | 16.3% | 15.3% | 1.6% |
| – High | 41.1% | 13.8% | 18.6% | 9.5% | 12.7% | 4.4% |
| – Middle & Elementary | 14.5% | 13.5% | 31.9% | 20.8% | 11.1% | 8.2% |
| – High & Elementary | 7.4% | 22.2% | 29.6% | 25.9% | 14.8% | 0.0% |
| – Middle & High | 32.8% | 15.7% | 21.6% | 15.7% | 9.7% | 4.5% |
| – All levels* | ||||||
| School Staff | 23.5% | 4.6% | 24.2% | 18.9% | 23.5% | 5.3% |
| Other Stakeholders | 39.0% | 10.2% | 11.9% | 11.9% | 20.3% | 6.8% |
*Percentages for parents with students in all levels are suppressed due to small cell size
Table A.2. Least preferred school start time scenarios
| Flip | Slide | Slide & Flip | Condense | No Changes | Other | |
| Overall | 27.1% | 21.9% | 14.3% | 14.3% | 21.3% | 1.2% |
| Parents | 28.4% | 21.5% | 13.5% | 13.9% | 21.5% | 1.3% |
| – Elementary | 43.4% | 27.6% | 4.7% | 9.4% | 13.8% | 1.1% |
| – Middle | 19.5% | 15.3% | 14.8% | 19.0% | 31.1% | 0.5% |
| – High | 11.8% | 16.1% | 23.9% | 20.0% | 27.1% | 1.2% |
| – Middle & Elementary | 35.1% | 24.5% | 9.6% | 10.6% | 18.3% | 1.9% |
| – High & Elementary | 48.2% | 22.2% | 3.7% | 7.4% | 18.5% | 0.0% |
| – Middle & High | 17.2% | 19.4% | 23.1% | 17.2% | 21.6% | 1.5% |
| – All levels* | ||||||
| School Staff | 18.3% | 25.2% | 21.4% | 15.3% | 19.1% | 0.8% |
| Other Stakeholders | 18.6% | 23.7% | 15.3% | 20.3% | 22.0% | 0.0% |
*Percentages for parents with students in all levels are suppressed due to small cell size.
Table A.3. Parents’ most preferred school start time scenarios by grade of children
| Flip | Slide | Slide & Flip | Condense | No Change | Other | |
| Elementary School Parents | 17.6% | 16.6% | 29.2% | 20.1% | 11.6% | 5.0% |
| No Elementary Parents | 31.7% | 15.4% | 22.2% | 13.1% | 14.1% | 3.5% |
| Middle School Students | 22.0% | 15.4% | 27.6% | 17.8% | 12.2% | 4.9% |
| No Middle School Students | 27.2% | 16.4% | 23.9% | 15.4% | 13.3% | 3.7% |
| High School Students | 36.1% | 15.0% | 20.5% | 18.4% | 11.8% | 4.1% |
| No High School Students | 19.6% | 16.5% | 28.0% | 12.5% | 13.4% | 4.3% |
Table A.4. Parents’ least preferred school start time scenarios by grade of children
| Flip | Slide | Slide & Flip | Condense | No Change | Other | |
| Elementary School Parents | 40.6% | 26.3% | 6.4% | 9.7% | 15.7% | 1.3% |
| No Elementary Parents | 17.4% | 17.1% | 19.9% | 17.7% | 26.7% | 1.2% |
| Middle School Students | 25.0% | 19.9% | 14.8% | 15.2% | 23.8% | 1.3% |
| No Middle School Students | 30.9% | 22.7% | 12.5% | 12.9% | 19.8% | 1.2% |
| High School Students | 15.8% | 17.5% | 22.3% | 18.2% | 24.9% | 1.2% |
| No High School Students | 34.6% | 23.5% | 9.1% | 11.7% | 19.8% | 1.3% |
*Parents can have multiple students and thus may appear in multiple cells