WESTLAKE School officials announced this week that the start time for high school students will be 25 minutes later beginning this fall.
The school day at Westlake High School will now run from 7:55 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.
Superintendent Dan Keenan said the district began looking at changes to the high school start time several years ago.
Keenan said the biggest challenge to changing the time involved transportation, since the same district buses also transport elementary, intermediate and middle school students.
With the end of high school busing this fall, due to budget reductions, Keenan said the district was able to make the move.
“We’re only committing to this later start time for two years,” he said. “The goal would be to see what we can do with that transportation in the long run.”
Officials also had to account for athletics and extracurricular activity times for high school students.
The issue was reviewed by a citizens’ advisory committee, which recommended the later start time based on research that showed teens could benefit from additional sleep.
“Some kids — just like adults — are morning people, and some are not,” Keenan said. “But for the most part, the research shows that if we’re able to start a little later, we’re more effective.”
According to administrators, the structure of the school day and school week will remain unchanged, just pushed back by 25 minutes. Keenan said the move also gives administrators a chance to examine the possibility of adding a “zero period” before school starts, similar to the way other districts begin their day.
A zero period would accommodate students who take co-curricular classes such as band that are in conflict with their regular class schedule.
Building principals will be able to use the later start time to call faculty meetings and to offer professional development for staff members prior to the beginning of the school day.
Keenan said that the high school building would continue to open at the same time each day, and start times at the district’s middle, intermediate and elementary schools would remain unchanged.
Contact Noga at (216) 986-6072.