District Comparison: School Start/End Times

In an effort to promote overall student health, DASD has been researching how shifting school start times may be able to support our students and is considering a new schedule as follows:

Proposal for the 2024-25 School Year:
Elementary (K-6): 9:00 a.m. - 3:35 p.m.
Secondary (7-12): 8:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.

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The Lower Merion Board of School Directors approved later school start times to begin in September 2024:

• Middle School 8:00 a.m. – 2:35 p.m.
• High School 8:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
• Elementary School 9:10 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.

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Beginning in the 2019-20 school year, the high school and middle school start and end times were delayed 30 minutes (HS 8am-2:55pm, MS: 8:05am - 2:53pm and Elementary: 8:55am - 3:35pm).

Most significant positive data points: More students reporting to school on time and less reports of “sleepiness” in first period.

Most significant negative impacts: Transportation logistics and the loss of instructional time for athletes. 

In 2022-23 school year, Quakertown Community High School moved start times to 8:15am to 3pm, a delay of 30 minutes from the previous schedule. The MS schedule is 7:30am - 2:15pm and elementary is 9:20am - 3:50pm.

As of October 2022, the district is considering adjustments to later start times due to conflicts with scheduling for their student-athletes and Career Technical school students. No action has been taken yet. 

In the 2019-20 school year, Radnor flipped the middle and high school start times and pushed HS and Elementary levels back. High schools moved from 7:35 AM to 8:30 AM. Middle School starts at 7:50 AM and elementary schools at 9:07 AM. 

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The district’s initial plan to shift start times for all 56 District high schools and middle/high schools from 7:30 AM to 9 AM at the start of the 2022-2023 school year was postponed due the ongoing bus driver shortages. The district is currently implementing strategies to increase competitiveness for recruiting bus drivers with the goal of shifting schools to later start times for the 2023-2024 school year if staffing allows.  

Schools serving Pre-K through Grade 8 also maintained their current bell schedules (varied across the district, but typically starting after 8:30 AM).

In the 2018-19 school year, UCFD pushed start times for secondary student to 25 minutes later and made a small modification to the elementary schedule. (8 AM-2:43 PM for MS/HS and 9:10 AM-3:40 PM for Elementary). From March -October 2022, the district took a second look at schedules to determine if pushing back start times even later would be feasible and beneficial. The final recommendation did not support an additional change primarily due to transportation staffing issues and lost instructional time for staff and student-athletes since the district would be out of alignment with other Ches-Mont league schools. The district has been developing additional resources to teach sleep hygiene.

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From April 2019 through March 2020, the West Chester Area School District evaluated seven scenarios to move the high school starting times from the current 7:30am to 8:15am or 8:30am. Although their Start Time Task Force Committee believed changing start times was beneficial for secondary students, the fiscal realities made it unaffordable. In their final report, it was noted that additional transportation costs were estimated at a minimum of $4.2 million - “money that can be spent in other ways to make a difference for children. That is the equivalent to approximately 56 teachers. It could also add additional counselors or mental health specialists.”