Experts say teens require nine hours of sleep a night and most do not get the required amount sleep on any school nite. About 20% of high school students fall asleep during the school day.
The solution? Start the school day later. How much later? Many school districts have changed their start times to 8:40am, giving students up to one hour and twenty minutes of extra sleep. The results? Less depression, less irritability, higher average GPA, and a decreased dropout rate.
In Iowa, stating the school day fifty minutes later saved the district over $700,000 annually. How? By reducing the number of buses because each bus had more time to pick up at more locations.
In a survey of parents, 80% of parents recommend the later start to the school day. In a survey of students, 98% agree with their parents. This is the one survey that parents and teens could actually agree.