Student Voice: Essential Ingredient to Decisions on School Start Times

The average high school start time in the United States is 8:02 a.m., with five in six high schools starting before the recommended 8:30.[1] Limited transportation exacerbates this problem, with many districts opting for a three-tiered bussing system. Under this strain, many districts go to the extreme. Nevada’s Clark County School District, the nation’s fifth largest, starts nearly every high school at 7 a.m. As a result, some students get picked up for school as early as 5:55.

Adolescence is a key time in the development of teens’ brains, and sufficient sleep is necessary for this development.[2] Additionally, their natural sleep cycle shifts to later in the night, favoring later rest and rise times. Communities nationwide have pressed for healthier start times for high schools, with mixed reactions from school leadership.

Although most state boards of education have little direct control over start times, they can provide guidance and compel local districts to make decisions most aligned with the community’s needs. Over the past year and a half, the Nevada State Board of Education has sought to nudge start times closer to what is conducive to learning and growth, and it has reached out to students—those whom early start times hurt the most.

Students must be part of these discussions. Although student voice may seem elusive, we have learned in Nevada that multiple strategies work well to give adult policymakers a glimpse into their lives. The first, and I believe most important, is having a student voice on the state board. Although it is meaningful for an adult member to advocate for students, it is important to have students speak on their own behalf to ensure their voice is heard as intended. Many state boards nationwide have student members, with a few having two, such as the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.[3]

In addition to providing a firsthand account of how the school system responds to student needs, a student member can catalyze student voice movements and respond to initiatives that are before the state board, including changing school start times. As a state board member, I feel I have improved my board’s understanding of the topic, and as the only student voice in the room, I became an advocate for change. With my experience and tenacity, I have been able to motivate my board to find a solution.

Direct interaction with students during school visits and community events is also invaluable. Such visits offer opportunities for board members to hear firsthand accounts, learn more about a situation under discussion, and consider factors they may not have thought about before. It can lay the groundwork for discussion boards may decide to pursue. Discussions with my peers across Nevada afforded me an in-depth knowledge of how early some students have to get up to go to school, particularly those attending magnet schools that require longer travel than for students attending schools in their zones.

Moreover, after talking with students in rural communities with a four-day school week, it became apparent that an earlier start time was necessary for their schools, as pushing it later would extend the school day to go unreasonably late. The state board was then able to consider that information as we started the conversation about regulations governing start times. Without the benefit of individual stories and student experiences, the conversation could have sparked action that did not benefit all students and put some at a disadvantage.

As the conversation develops, boards need survey data that draws on a large sample of students, staff, and community members. These data help board members understand what the community thinks and help persuade local districts, other board members, or legislators to act. My board is still working on its survey, but the process of formulating it has yielded a few lessons:

• First, keep the survey as impartial as possible to maintain its efficacy. It is extremely important to get views as they are and not—as unintentional as it may be—to lead respondents to answer a certain way. Thus, board conversation can focus on actual survey results and not biases in construction of the survey.
• A second consideration is conciseness. Many students may not have time to complete a 10-minute survey, so it becomes a balancing act between getting quality data and keeping questions to a minimum.
• Third, the survey should be accessible. Making sure it can be translated to multiple languages can help students and families from different backgrounds have their voices heard.

As with many educational issues, some leaders are quite vocal in their opinions. But it is the students’ voices—oftentimes the quieter voices—that matter most. I cannot speak for other states, but in Nevada, what we hear directly from students is different from what we hear from other leadership.

As they start to navigate independently, high school students’ lives are often turbulent. They are expected to keep up their grades, participate in extracurricular activities and sports, sometimes work part-time jobs, care for younger siblings, and more. State boards can and should listen to their needs and guarantee that students not only have access to high-quality instruction but can come to class prepared to learn.

Notes

[1] Rhoda Au et al., “School Start Times for Adolescents,” Policy Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics 134, no. 3 (September 2014).

[2] Leila Tarokh, Jared M. Salein, and Mary A. Carskadon, “Sleep in Adolescence: Physiology, Cognition, and Mental Health,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 70 (2016): 182–88.

[3] Celina Pierrottet, “Engaging Youth in Education Policymaking,” Policy Updates 29, no. 6 (Alexandria, VA: NASBE, August 2022).