High School Start Times - What Happened?
The majority of high schools, comprehensive and alternative, will start at 7:50 am (ten minutes earlier than last year) and end at 2:20 pm. This includes Cleveland STEM, World School and South Lake.
The outliers are Center School (8:30 am-3:10 pm), Chief Sealth (8:40 am- 3:10 pm), Hale (8:40 am-3:10 pm) and Nova (8:30 am - 3:00 pm).
So Center School I get because of its location. Sealth because it's a joint campus with Denny and the district promised to not have the middle school and high school kids come to school at the same time. Nova? Well, it is a project-based alternative school so I get that.
But Hale? It lives a charmed life and has been able to keep their late start for years (and to this day). (I personally have never seen any advocacy from Hale's administration for this kind of benefit for other high schools. )
Also, how is that it's okay for Nova, Hale and Sealth all to deliver 10 minutes less a day to students than other high schools? Does the district have a waiver from OSPI for this? (I'll have to ask.)
From Start School Later-Seattle
Hello SSL supporters,
Are you confused and angry about the new start times for our schools? Most high schools will be starting at 7:50 while a significant number of elementary schools won't start until 9:30. Why are we going in the wrong direction?
This goes back to a revision of transportation standards that places buses in a 3-tier system which is supposed to save the district money. This revised transportation system was approved by the board back in February.
Very few buses serve our high schools, but since they drop off students at 7:35, high schools are being required to start at 7:50. Nathan Hale is one of the exceptions, and will have an 8:40 start because years ago they analyzed the issue and have been on a later starting schedule to the benefit of their students.
What can we do?
The superintendent has the authority to determine start times. There is no good reason for high schools to be moving to an earlier start time. As many of you are aware the American Association of Pediatrics just released a policy statement advising that middle and high schools should start at 8:30 or later. This is major and is consistent with our initiative. Email our new superintendent, Dr. Larry Nyland and urge him to move high school start times back to 8:00.
superintendent@seattleschools.org
As a recap, the school board voted 6-1 in July to begin analysis and community engagement work on start times. SSL-Seattle will be working with the district to ensure that this work gets done and that outreach on the issue is presented in a scientific and balanced manner.
Stay tuned on ways to keep the district accountable to working on start times. In the meantime, we should all ask that our high schools go back to 8:00 starts.
The outliers are Center School (8:30 am-3:10 pm), Chief Sealth (8:40 am- 3:10 pm), Hale (8:40 am-3:10 pm) and Nova (8:30 am - 3:00 pm).
So Center School I get because of its location. Sealth because it's a joint campus with Denny and the district promised to not have the middle school and high school kids come to school at the same time. Nova? Well, it is a project-based alternative school so I get that.
But Hale? It lives a charmed life and has been able to keep their late start for years (and to this day). (I personally have never seen any advocacy from Hale's administration for this kind of benefit for other high schools. )
Also, how is that it's okay for Nova, Hale and Sealth all to deliver 10 minutes less a day to students than other high schools? Does the district have a waiver from OSPI for this? (I'll have to ask.)
From Start School Later-Seattle
Hello SSL supporters,
Are you confused and angry about the new start times for our schools? Most high schools will be starting at 7:50 while a significant number of elementary schools won't start until 9:30. Why are we going in the wrong direction?
This goes back to a revision of transportation standards that places buses in a 3-tier system which is supposed to save the district money. This revised transportation system was approved by the board back in February.
Very few buses serve our high schools, but since they drop off students at 7:35, high schools are being required to start at 7:50. Nathan Hale is one of the exceptions, and will have an 8:40 start because years ago they analyzed the issue and have been on a later starting schedule to the benefit of their students.
What can we do?
The superintendent has the authority to determine start times. There is no good reason for high schools to be moving to an earlier start time. As many of you are aware the American Association of Pediatrics just released a policy statement advising that middle and high schools should start at 8:30 or later. This is major and is consistent with our initiative. Email our new superintendent, Dr. Larry Nyland and urge him to move high school start times back to 8:00.
superintendent@seattleschools.org
As a recap, the school board voted 6-1 in July to begin analysis and community engagement work on start times. SSL-Seattle will be working with the district to ensure that this work gets done and that outreach on the issue is presented in a scientific and balanced manner.
Stay tuned on ways to keep the district accountable to working on start times. In the meantime, we should all ask that our high schools go back to 8:00 starts.
Comments
The high schools all have a six and a half hour day.
Center School runs from 8:30 to 3:00 and the schools with a 7:50 start are getting out at 2:20.
As Charlie says, I can only go by what the district tells me.
ws
Here's the Bell Times Schedule I accessed through the School Directory webpage.
To make things more interesting, the school's website says their day starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:05.
Is anyone else surprised by the sloppiness you encounter when looking for district information?
Yet somehow starting high school later is a huge undertaking that will displace district priorities. What a double standard.
-HS Parent
And while Hale admin itself may not be an active supporter for later high school start times, many of the parents in the community are.
HP
What if the times were shifted by 15 minutes 8:05 - 2:35 would the busses still be able to to their second routes and would sports will be able to complete their practices?
This let's take a year to study is moving start time is infruiating, given there are schools - with busses and sports on the late schedule and things seem to be running quiet smoothly.
Seems to me an Excel spreadsheet would be able to answer these what if questions pretty quickly.
What is the issue?
You gather up all the data - the number of students, locations, etc. - and put it on a spreadsheet. Then you add in the other factors - specialty services/programs.
The district isn't always good at logistics so it's not as simple or easy as it might seem.
But I think the real issue is that the senior staff doesn't believe it will have an impact, they don't want to do this work and they want any money it might cost to go to their pet projects.
I'm no mindreader but I'll be willing to bet when they give their study to the Board, the conclusion will be "can't do it."
Nova parent
If no, then how is transportation being handled for elem students in these areas?
I could understand the long study period if we were looking to move all HS to a late start, but now that we know there are two "regular" HS on late start seems to me you look at what they are doing and simply replicate.
Not every high school started at 7:50 last year. This year every high school (except Center, Sealth, Hale and NOVA) has a 7:35 bus arrival time and a 7:50 start time. Last year the only high schools with a 7:35 arrival time were Hale and Sealth.
During 2013-14 buses were perpetually late for arrival and departure at their three elementary schools. Tier one school times were moved ten minutes earlier to avoid moving tier three pickup times from 3:50 to 4:00.
The majority of the buses have to run three routes a day - not two. Hale can start later because most of it's buses run to a tier one middle or high school first. To keep our three tier schedule, some schools have to start at 7:50.
However Ballard has been starting at 7:50 for the last 5 years, at least. I believe Roosevelt has as well. Not sure of before that, but I don't get why some schools moving 10 minutes to be in line with other high schools is such a hardship as stated here.
It's a huge issue that there are differences in information throughout that website.
David, if all high schools need to be "in line," then ALL high schools should have the same schedule (except alternative ones).
Tutorial is at 8:30, which is not the same as 1st period!
Tutorial 8:30 - 9:05 a.m.
1/2nd 9:10 - 10:55 a.m.
3/4 11:05 - 12:45 p.m.
Lunch 12:45 - 1:25 p.m.
5/6 1:25 - 3:05 p.m.
Students did not know of the start time change when they registered for classes. It affects students in running start. Changing your schedule is very hard at this time of year.
-HS Parent
-Franklin parent
sidneyd
The board directs the staff to study later start times and staff promptly moves some HS start time earlier?
That is seriously twisted.
According to this, Franklin is also now 7:50
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/transportation/2014-15%20arrival%20departure.pdf?sessionid=6a12ee7be0523a169cee272eeaf648cf
All the high schools that had been 8:00 last year are now 7:50 and it really messes up running start for so many students.
WSHS parent
I know some elementary parents will complain about their kindergarteners waiting in the dark at 7:30, but come'on, all the parents are out there with them.
Sorry. I'm cranky about my 6 am wake-up tomorrow to blast my 7th grader out of bed, right when his body needs the sleep.
1) Running Start, which is accessed by students across the city, is now not an option for students willing to take a morning class. Question is why is the district creating obstacles for Running Start students?
2) The board directed staff to study moving start times later - they responded by moving HS start times earlier. In my world that is called insubordination.
So yes, those 10 minutes are very much worth fighting over.
I would add to your list of important consequences:
3. A 10 min. earlier start time results in a 30 minute (or more) EARLIER Metro bus ride for many high school students who will not be in class on time otherwise.
This earlier start time pushes into the adult/working commuters busses, which are already filled to capacity and often pass by bus stops without picking up passengers.
The bus arrival times are not reliable as is, and it is imperative that students arrive inside the classroom on time or they can be marked as Absent (and not just tardy)if they arrive 10 minutes late. By school board policy, absences in HS are also tied directly & NEGATIVELY IMPACT GRADES (and not just attendance records.
WS parent
Yes, PO3, it feels like an insubordination.
The vote to officially study swapping the start times came in July. I understand the frustration out there, but it certainly doesn't seem to amount to insubordination.
Someone please correct me if I'm reading Board minutes incorrectly, but this looks like the time line to me.
Well no one told the administration at Franklin since all the docs they've sent home so far have an 8am start - we'll see if that changes for some reason. But as far as I know, 8 is what they are telling families.
Franklin Parent
~Franklin Parent