CT Schools Start Time Among Earliest in U.S., Science Indicates Later is Better; Legislature Considers Study to be Due Next January

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According to the most recent national data, the average time that Connecticut high schools begin each morning is among the earliest in the nation – as increasing volumes of scientific data indicate that a later start is better for students health and performance in the classroom.

The state legislature’s Education Committee will conduct a public hearing on Friday, March 6 on a proposal to study the issue of school start times, as some schools, districts, and states have taken action. 

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The average start time in Connecticut, 7:39 AM, places Connecticut in a group of only four states in the nation that begin classes, on average, earlier than 7:45 AM.  The other three states are Louisiana (7:30 AM), New Hampshire (7:41 AM) and Massachusetts (7:38 AM). That’s according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), for the 2017-18 school year. 

The latest average start times in the U.S. are in South Carolina at 8:34 AM, Minnesota at 8:21 AM and Iowa at 8:16 AM.  The majority of states begin high school classes after 8:00, on average, according to the data.

At the State Capitol, House Bill 5217 would require the state Education Department to establish a working group to study issues relating to school start times.  The legislation would require the study group to explore:

  • the effect of the starting time of regularly scheduled instruction on child 4 growth and development,

  • whether there is a correlation between school start times and educational outcomes and student productivity,

  • the feasibility of implementing a school start time requirement in the state, and

  • whether any other states have implemented a school start time requirement.

The working group would report back to the legislature next January, in time for the start of the 2021 General Assembly session.

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California will become the first state in the nation to mandate later start times at most middle schools and high schools under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last October, a proposal designed to improve educational outcomes by giving students more sleep.

A later start time for students has the backing of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2014 that middle and high schools begin at 8:30 or later to help students get more sleep, saying that doing so could reduce the risk of obesity, lower rates of depression and improve safety, academic performance and quality of life.

“The science shows that teenage students who start their day later increase their academic performance, attendance, and overall health,” Newsom said in a statement. “Importantly, the law allows three years for schools and school districts to plan and implement these changes.”

The California law will take effect over a phased-in period, ultimately requiring public middle schools to begin classes at 8 a.m. or later while high schools will start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., according to published reports. 

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In recent years, several Connecticut school districts opted to move to later school start times. These towns include Guilford in 2018, Newtown in 2017, and Wilton in 2003, among others. School officials in Norwalk, New Canaan and West Hartford have recently explored moving to later start times. West Hartford’s Board of Education, after failing to approve a change, recently approved a resolution that “urges the Connecticut General Assembly to pass legislation requiring schools for students in grades 6-12 to begin academic classes no earlier than 8:30 am daily, to ensure that every student arrives at school healthy, awake, alert, and ready to learn.”

The resolution also stated that “a substantial body of research has demonstrated that delaying school start times for adolescents is an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and has a wide range of benefits with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement.”

A plan adopted by the local Board of Education for Westport public schools to start a half-hour later beginning next year is being opposed in a petition by some parents and teachers.  Under the plan, middle schools would begin at 8:30; high school at 8:00.

 Co-sponsors of the working group study proposal at the Capitol include Democratic Rep. Kate Rotella (North Stonington, Stonington) and Republican Rep. David Rutigliano (Trumbull).

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Rutigliano said recently, “Education decisions should ultimately be decided by local school boards.  The intention of this bill is not to mandate later start times, but to help local boards of education with a road-map of best practices. Get all the information in one room so the 169 school districts can see for themselves, what is best for their students and how it can be worked out.  No child should be waiting for the school bus in the pitch-black morning. After listening to the science, it is quite clear, our students would benefit with later start times.”

At an informational legislative hearing in October 2019, current and former legislators were among those who spoke in support of legislation to require later start times statewide.

“I was the first Connecticut legislator to challenge early high school start times.  Since then, every bit of research keeps telling us that early high school start times hurt student learning, behavior and wellness.  Later start times improve educational outcomes and the lives of our high schoolers.  It’s not easy to change, but why keep disadvantaging our teenagers from the minute they wake up too early every school day,” said Kevin Sullivan, a former Connecticut Lieutenant Governor and State Senator, and a former Mayor of West Hartford.

“This is a matter of public health. Every day that we force children to get up early, creating chronic sleep deprivation, we are doing them harm.  And the evidence is mounting that the effects are the greatest on those already marginalized.  If we want to begin to close the achievement gap, reduce mental illness, improve grades and graduation rates, and reduce car accidents, this is a one-time fix that will move us in that direction,” said Sarah Raskin, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Trinity College.

According to StartSchoolLater.net, “when schools have delayed the start of the school day, communities have seen reduced tardiness, sleeping in class, and car crash rates, as well as improved attendance, graduation rates, and standardized test scores. When Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming shifted its start time to 8:55 a.m., the number of car crashes involving teenage drivers dropped by 70%.

The NCES uses data from the School Questionnaire of the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), which is both a state and nationally representative sample survey of public and private K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The selected school samples include about 10,600 traditional and charter public schools and 4,000 private schools.