St. Charles schools hold off delaying school start times

St. Charles Unit District 303 school board members pushed the snooze button Tuesday on discussions about creating a later start time for students. But the issue will arise again next summer as members address declining enrollment and the possible shuttering of the district's most-empty schools.

Fueled by recent national studies indicating teenagers need more sleep than they are getting, local school officials have shown increasing interest in pushing back the time of the first bell. St. Charles, Elgin, Barrington and Naperville school boards have all examined the issue in recent months.

St. Charles began discussions a couple months ago. Principals at the elementary, middle and high schools polled staff about what starting times would be most beneficial. Staff members at 10 of the 13 elementary schools favor pushing the first bell back by 20 minutes. That would create a day where elementary students begin at 9 a.m. and finish at 3:20 p.m.

Such a late start would likely trigger a need for before-school care, which isn't currently offered in the district. Superintendent Don Schlomann said it would not be difficult to create a program, supervised by building principals, that allows parents to drop off students as early as 7 a.m. The district would charge a daily or monthly fee, and the schools would keep any profits in-house.

School board members liked the idea of before-school care no matter what the starting bell times become. But neither before-school care, nor later starting times will come into place this fall.

Staff members at the middle and high schools want to keep the starting times right where they are. Middle school students begin at 8:20 a.m. High school students begin at 7:20 a.m.

It's that high school starting time that brought a handful of parents to the board to ask for at least a 20-minute delay to first period at St. Charles East and St. Charles North high schools.

"I still believe we could make a lot of students, parents and teachers a lot happier with a later start time," said Sara Vetter. "That 7:20 a.m. is just too early."

But 53 percent of high school staff members said 7:20 a.m. works just fine. Opponents of a later time didn't believe it would improve student learning or result in more sleep for students. As evidence, they pointed to a much higher tardiness rate during the occasional late start days that already exist for staff planning sessions. In fact, high school staff members recommended ending all late start days, even for staff planning, and switching to early dismissal to accommodate those sessions.

Sentiment for keeping start times where they are was even stronger at the district's three middle schools. Wredling Middle School Principal Stephen Morrill said there was no wiggle room in his poll results.

"It was an absolute no," Morrill said. "I did not find a single stakeholder that was interested in moving the day later. And the kids were very interested in leaving as soon in the afternoon as possible."

Given the disparity between what staff members and parents want, Schlomann recommended tabling the issue for a year. In interim, he will investigate flipping the starting times at the middle and high schools. But, he said, that consideration will be part of a larger suggestion he is developing to address the district's declining enrollment, which may involve "potentially less buildings" in operation.

"I personally believe that 7:20 is a pretty early start for our high schools," Schlomann said. "I don't know what the answer to that is. I can't imagine here, given the climate of this district, that we go to a 9 a.m. start for the high schools. I just don't see that."