Pro: Starting later would improve students’ lives
By Sabrina Pickett
Staff Writer
The recent suggestion to change Mira Costa’s current schedule to start at a later time is a good idea despite the potential problems it may present.
Executive Director of Student Services Ellyn Schneider along with Doctors Linda Schack, Mini Mehra and Lisa Santora, presented the suggestion to The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees in a presentation at the Oct. 3 Board meeting. They presentation aimed to ensure student health by changing Costa’s current schedule to an 8:45 start time without zero period. The Board acknowledged the issue but decided to take no action and keep the schedule the same.
According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the human body’s “master clock,” or Circadian Rhythm, is directly affected by light. Pushing the start time back would allow students to wake up in daylight hours and provide them with the health benefit of a natural sleep cycle.
In the report, the original concept included the elimination of zero period; however, this is not nearly pragmatic enough. For a schedule change to be feasible, the school should push the start time of zero period back, but not get rid of it entirely. This would allow students to take an extra class and still wake up at a reasonable hour.
Colby College Professor Finley Edwards showed that a lack of sleep can have harmful effects on students of all grade levels through his experiments in a North Carolina school district. Edwards saw an overall improvement in test scores when students arrived at a later time. A later start time would be beneficial to both students’ physical and academic health.
According to Brown University Professor Dr. Mary Carskadon, who has conducted many teenage sleeping patterns studies and put together the Board presentation with Schneider, it is advantageous for students to start school a mere 45 minutes later because attendance is improved and the number of tardies and nurse visits are decreased.
Carskadon also noted that students with an early start time suffered from concentration issues, aggressive behavior, inconsistent mood swings and unhealthy eating patterns. With a later morning start time, students and teachers would therefore have to deal with less disciplinary issues.
Pushing back the start of school to 9 a.m. would be beneficial to Costa, as students would be more prepared to learn and test scores would rise, as proven by Edwards and Carskadon. Teachers would also benefit from a revised schedule, because students would be more alert and attentive in classes.
Some have argued that working parents would have a difficult time getting their kids to school if the schedule were pushed back. This should not be an issue, however, because many upperclassmen are able to drive themselves and neighboring friends. Carpools and public transportation, among other things, also easily counteract this issue.
According to Vice Principal Jaime Mancilla, another reason the Board opted not to make changes to the current schedule is because many students compete on sports teams that begin practice during sixth period and claim they cannot be pushed back any later. However, this claim is irrelevant because many teams currently don’t begin practice until 3 p.m. or later for reasons such as a lack of field space, which would not be affected by a later schedule. Also, many of the larger fields on campus have lights that allow athletics to take place late in the day.
Pushing back the start of school to 9 a.m. and moving zero period to 8 a.m. would have many benefits on Costa.
Con: Later start not worth administrative price
By Tamara Knell
Staff Writer
A change in the Mira Costa master schedule to eliminate zero period and delay the start of school to 9 a.m. would negatively affect students, faculty, and parents.
A change in the school schedule would result in a limiting of course offerings, and if zero period were eliminated, it would lead to forced schedule changes for parents and less time for after-school extracurricular activities for students. It should be the responsibility of the student, not the district, to ensure a reasonable sleep schedule.
Doctors Linda Schack and Mini Mehra spoke with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District’s Medical Advisory Board at a board of trustees meeting on Oct. 3 about the lack of sleep students are getting on a daily basis.
During the meeting, Schack and Mehra claimed that students are not receiving enough sleep due to the early start time school demands. According to the Sleep Foundation, the hormone melatonin is released later in the night, causing teenagers to have difficulty falling asleep earlier than 11 p.m.
Schack and Mehra also discussed a solution that would change drop-off schedules in the morning for parents who are not available at 8:45 a.m., the recommended new start time. They suggested the opening of the library earlier for an early-morning homework club. This solution is unfeasible because if parents are still forced to drop their kids off at the same time, the students will have to wake up at the same time. This proposal, thus, does not fix the problem of sleep deprivation.
The current early start is essential to students because it is necessary to fit specific needs of certain students. According to Costa Vice Principal Jamie Mancilla, 756 students are currently enrolled in a zero period. Many of the students are enrolled in order to fit more classes into their schedule, and some juniors and seniors take earlier classes so that they can leave after fourth or fifth period or 5th period. This is beneficial because it leaves more time to do homework and other activities, like getting a job. Experiences beyond the school day would greatly suffer with a changed schedule.
This new, flawed proposal would result in school ending at 4 p.m., which would affect sport practices and several other after-school activities. Not only will practice times change, but being on a different schedule than other public schools in the area would cause problems in scheduling games at reasonable times. With long bus rides already pushing back game times for all sports, a later school start time would complicate the process further. Teachers are often frustrated with the amount of time missed by athletes, and this would only worsen the problem.
Although some believe that eliminating zero period would raise test scores and improve the health of students, pushing a later start time would force kids to go to bed even later than usual. The lack of sleep students are receiving is purely caused by their own responsibilities, and the current schedule doesn’t impact students’ lack of sleep. Students just need to take it upon themselves to get more sleep and go to bed earlier if that is what they feel is needed.
Obviously, there are some positive effects associated with a later start time. But the massive cost associated with the change outweighs the benefits. Students can take it upon themselves to plan more time so they can go to bed earlier and get a greater amount of sleep.
Zero period currently provides students with opportunities to take extra classes, while still letting students out of school at a reasonable hour. Pushing back Costa’s morning start time would affect students both athletically and academically. Overall, the current zero period start time and bell schedule is productive and appropriate for students. The suggestion brought before the Board is unnecessary and would negatively affect Costa’s student body on all parts of the spectrum.
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