IT'S A START...:

TWO MORE area school districts have decided to study later start times for their high school students. That's evidence of the growing demand that school schedules be shaped not by mindless adherence to tradition but by what is best for student learning. Let's hope that school officials who have undertaken examinations of this issue are not just going through the motions. [...]

The four school systems start high school classes between 7:17 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., which requires many students to be up and headed to school by 6 a.m. or soon after. In pushing for start times after 8 a.m., parents point to the persuasive body of research establishing that adolescent sleep patterns make it hard for them to go to sleep or wake up early. Biology -- not a parent's nagging or a teen's self-discipline -- is the determining factor. Schools with later start times have demonstrated the benefits to students, schools and communities in the way of better academic performance, less tardiness and absenteeism and lowered risks for depression and car crashes.

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