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Potsdam Central not planning on any change to school start time for next year

Posted 1/21/18

By MATT LINDSEY POTSDAM — Potsdam Central School does not plan to change the start time for high school and middle school students next school year. School officials are still trying to figure out …

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Potsdam Central not planning on any change to school start time for next year

Posted

By MATT LINDSEY

POTSDAM — Potsdam Central School does not plan to change the start time for high school and middle school students next school year.

School officials are still trying to figure out if the change is even possible, according to PCS Superintendent Joann Chambers.

Potsdam Central is exploring the idea of a later school start time for fifth through 12th grade students in the hopes that it results in an improvement in academics, discipline and social issues.

The main holdup would be transportation.

A transportation study is being compiled for the school and will detail efficiency, cost-cutting measures and a comprehensive look at what would happen if school started later.

Chambers said a consultant was at the school this past week doing interviews and collecting data. She expected result from the study near the end of February.

As part of deciding whether or not to change the start time, Chambers reached out to a pair of St. Lawrence University professors who conducted a sleep study tied to a later start time for older students.

The study was conducted at Glens Falls High School a few years ago by Pamela Thatcher and Serge Onyper. The study aimed to establish if sleep, health, mood, behavior, and academics improved after a 45-minute delay in high school start time.

The study found that attendance, tardiness and behavior all improved with a later start time. There was no evidence that academics were improved.

Thatcher and Onyper presented their findings to the Board of Education at the Jan. 16 meeting.

“We are trying to follow the recommendations of the health community,” Chambers said about why the school is considering the change.

She said health studies have shown the biological clock of older children has their bodies feeling tired later in the evening and getting up early in the morning may not allow them to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

Chambers said an improvement in attendance, tardiness and behavior would be seen as “bonuses” if a start time change ever takes place.

“Truthfully, we are a long ways away from it happening,” she said.