The Anchorage School Board voted Tuesday to change school start times, but postponed the changes until the 2024-2025 school year.
Starting in fall 2024, elementary school students will begin class at 8 a.m., followed by high school at 8:45 a.m. and middle school at 9:30 a.m. Currently, high school students start at 7:30 a.m., followed by middle schoolers at 8:15 a.m. and elementary schoolers at 9 a.m.
While written testimony was nearly an even split between those in favor and those against changing times, all of the people who testified to the board in person on Tuesday opposed the measure. Kevin Klott, a teacher and coach at Goldenview Middle School, said students will stay up regardless of when school starts.
“When I hear students tell me that they didn’t get enough sleep and I ask them why, I get two responses: either they were on their phones or they were playing video games,” Klott said. “So, maybe instead of spending resources to shift an entire community’s schedule, perhaps we could focus more of our time and conversations on student screen time and social media usage.”
The board previously voted against changing school start times in 2018.
The decision Tuesday comes as part of a national trend to change school start times to allow teenage students to begin their day later. Shannon Bingham, a school demographer and consultant hired by the district, said that older students who start school later experience mental and physical health benefits, and perform better academically.
Carl Jacobs was one of four school board members who voted to postpone the change for a year.
“I think that this is a reasonable compromise that 100% supports students based on a data-centric focus but also allows middle ground to support our middle school teachers, to support industry as it transitions and to support our families,” Jacobs said.
After voting 4-3 to postpone the changes until the fall of 2024, the board then voted 6-1 in favor of the measure as a whole, with Andy Holleman opposed.
The change in when school starts also changes when it ends. Currently, most elementary school days end at 3:30 p.m., with middle school over at 2:45 p.m. and high school at 2 p.m. Starting in fall 2024, elementary will end at 2:30 p.m., middle school at 4 p.m. and high school at 3:15 p.m.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
