ISD 199 to Review Start Times

District Invites Community and Staff to School Start/End Time Informational Meetings

Posted 09/22/2016

The ISD 199 School Board has requested a team of community members and district staff to review K-12 school start/end times. This request is due to research conducted on the sleep patterns of teens and the impact on student achievement. If you were unable to attend the informational sessions on October 3 and 6, an online survey will be available starting Monday, October 10. 

You are encouraged to review the research and links below before attending the community meetings or completing the online survey.

Please click here to see the School Start/End Time Review FAQ.

The review will take place throughout the fall with a chance for the school board to consider options in November and December. If an option is approved, it will be implemented at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.

The school board sought a review of start/end times based on research that shows how high school students can benefit from additional sleep. The research cites biological reasons—especially puberty—for why adolescents have more difficulty falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning.

Research on the topic includes studies by The Center for Applied Research and Education Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota. The studies conclude that later high school start times optimize student learning. The most recent review by CAREI in 2014 also concluded that later start times for high schools allow for more than 60% of students to get at least eight hours of sleep per school night. Teens getting fewer than eight hours of sleep reported significantly more depression symptoms, greater use of caffeine, and are at greater risk of making poor choices in terms of substance use. Later start times were accompanied by improved academic performance outcomes such as grades in core subjects, improved performance on state and national achievement tests, increased attendance rates, and decreased tardiness. Finally, the number of car crashes for teen drivers ages 16 to 18 decreased by 70% when a school shifted start times.

University of Minnesota director of sleep medicine Dr. Conrad Iber and College of Education and Human Development senior research fellow Kyla Wahlstrom presented research on this topic to the district review team last summer. Links to their research presentations and slides are available to view above.

In addition to the research on adolescent sleep, there are a number of factors to be considered in the review of start/end times: 

  • Student safety
  • Transportation schedule
  • Family schedules
  • Staff schedules
  • Student schedules
  • Activities schedules

Currently, ISD199 elementary schools hold school 8:30AM-3:10PM. The secondary schools hold school 7:40AM-2:30PM. 

For comparison, Metro East Conference school start/end times are:

 

High School Start Times

Start Time

End Time

ISD 200 Hastings

7:50 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

ISD 197 Henry Sibley

8:30 a.m.

3:04 p.m.

Hill-Murray 6-12 Grade

7:40 a.m.

2:10 p.m.

ISD 832 Mahtomedi

8:00 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

ISD 622 North

8:15 a.m.

2:45 p.m.

Saint Thomas Academy

8:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

Simley

7:40 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

South St. Paul

7:50 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

ISD 622 Tartan

8:15 a.m.

2:45 p.m.

 

Middle School Start Times

Start Time

End Time

ISD 200

7:55 a.m.

2:35 p.m.

ISD 197

8:40 a.m.

3:15 p.m.

Hill-Murray 6-12 Grade

7:40 a.m.

2:10 p.m.

ISD 832

8:00 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

ISD 622

7:45 a.m.

2:15 p.m.

Saint Thomas Academy

8:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

IGH Middle School

7:40 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

Special District 6

7:50 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

See ISD 622 Above

NA

NA

 

Elementary School Start Times

Start Time

End Time

ISD 200

8:50 a.m.

3:25 p.m.

ISD 197

7:45 a.m.

2:15 p.m.

Hill Murray

NA

NA

ISD 832

9:00 a.m.

3:30 p.m.

ISD 622

9:15 a.m.

3:45 p.m.

St. Thomas Academy

NA

NA

ISD 199

8:30 a.m.

3:10 p.m.

Special District 6

8:20 a.m.

2:55 p.m.

See ISD 622 Above

NA

NA