Changing School Start Times: Impact on Student, Family, Teacher, and Community Health

Sleep is not an optional luxury, but a fundamental biological need, essential for health and well-being. Insufficient sleep is a significant public health issue, with 69% of adolescents in America obtaining less than the minimum requirement of 8 hours of sleep per night. Early school start times has been identified as the most significant and modifiable factor that restricts sleep duration in adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2014 that all middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., yet few school districts have implemented this change. In fall 2017, the Cherry Creek School District, a diverse district of almost 55,000 students outside Denver, changed school start times. Although previous studies have shown increased sleep duration, decreased daytime sleepiness, and improved academics following start time changes for secondary students, there remains an urgent need to understand how this policy impacts health and well-being for all students, including youth in elementary school. Recognizing that students are part of a complex system that includes parents, school staff, and the community, this observational study will be a multi-year, broad-based evaluation that includes key stakeholders, multiple sources of quantitative data (i.e., surveys, academic records, district nursing electronic health records), contextual qualitative data (i.e., open-ended surveys and focus groups), and community-based outcomes (i.e., data on vehicle crashes and juvenile crimes). The primary hypothesis is that later school start times will have a positive impact on middle and high school students sleep and health outcomes, while earlier school start times will have a neutral impact on elementary school students sleep and health outcomes.