District 103 officials to discuss plan to start classes later
Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103 officials on Tuesday will discuss a plan to start classes at all three campuses after 8:30 a.m. each day.
The still-developing proposal follows reports from health experts indicating a later school start is better for kids because it provides more time to sleep.
District 103 officials say they have been investigating such a shift for months.
The school day at Daniel Wright Junior High now starts at 7:50 a.m., while Sprague School and Half Day School both start at 9 a.m.
End-of-school-day times could be adjusted, too, officials have said.
New start or end times haven't been proposed yet, Superintendent Scott Warren said. No vote is expected at Tuesday's meeting.
"They will discuss the next steps in the process," Warren said.
Tuesday's session is set for 7 p.m. at Wright Junior High, 1370 N. Riverwoods Road, Lincolnshire.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among the health authorities that have issued policy statements advocating later starts.
The agencies have said school districts that have pushed back start times have seen an improvement in student performance. Later start times also have led to fewer car accidents involving teenagers in those communities, experts have reported.
District 103 officials called for an examination of school hours in a strategic plan adopted earlier this year called Vision 2020.
The proposal gained steam and public attention in October. Earlier that month, the Stevenson High School board voted to push back the start of the school day there beginning in fall 2016.
District 103 and Stevenson serve some of the same communities.
District 103 officials said the timing was coincidental.