Please sign and share this petition now to show your support for the DASD Administration and Board to immediately establish a focused, comprehensive and community inclusive study of its bussing system and school start times as a 2019-20 District goal. It would be our hope that no later than June 2020, final results of that study and actionable recommendations would be available.
As a result of abundant scientific research, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among many prominent US medical organizations calling for middle and high school start times of no earlier than 8:30AM. Research consistently indicates that US secondary school start times are significantly misaligned with the biologically driven circadian rhythms of teens, and failing to adjust them makes our current school hours not the only, but certainly a primary, contributor to chronic sleep loss. Schools that have met the universal medical standard are seeing the benefits of greater student engagement, as well as decreased rates of absenteeism, tardiness, teen car and pedestrian accidents, substance abuse, obesity, depression, anxiety, suicide ideation and completion, athletic injuries including concussions, and an array of other high-risk health behaviors.
It is time for DASD to join many of its peer districts in comprehensively, transparently and interactively studying these issues for the sake of our children.
Sleep research has shown that during the teenage years, one of the biological shifts that occurs is the timing of the release of the sleep inducing hormone melatonin into the bloodstream. Melatonin production for the span of the teenage years is delayed by almost two hours, creating the feeling of sleepiness in most teens rarely before 11PM.
In addition, ample sleep research indicates that teens need a minimum of 8.5-10 hours of sleep each night in order to complete all phases of their sleep cycles. Studies show that less than 15% of teens are getting the minimum 8.5 hours! The last phases of sleep include REM sleep, activity that is responsible for memory consolidation and emotional regulation in a stage of particularly rapid brain development. These REM activities prepare teens for two critical life functions of their middle and high school years. As a matter math based on this science, teens should not be awake prior to 7:30AM at a minimum, and yet the overwhelming majority of DASD teens at that time have long been out of their homes catching busses for long rides to school, and are also then sitting in classrooms about to receive instruction. This is unacceptable.
When we know better, we should do better. It is time NOW to launch a study of these critical issues for our children.
For more information on the science of sleep and its connection to school start times, please feel free to visit:
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/3/642
https://www.cdc.gov/features/school-start-times/index.html
https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-supports-delayed-school-start-times-improve-adolescent-wellness
https://www.startschoollater.net/pa---southeastern.html
http://www.startschoollater.net/wake-up-calls-fast-facts.html
We urge any and all concerned parents, students, staff and community members to join forces with us to urge DASD to act now to do better by our children.
