Take into consideration for high school that those students have jobs and sports and other commitments. They can't be getting out late from school to still be able to do that. Also, they will not go to bed earlier. If anything they will stay up later at that point.

IMO, earlier start time for elementary schools is most important (would eliminate need for before school child care). So many people drive students their students to school these days, perhaps take that commitment into consideration before buying additional busses.

I don't think these options start high school late enough. I believe very strongly that high school classes should start 9am or later with sports before school if needed. The later start the better for all kids.

Education should come before sports.

I would be seriously concerned about pulling middle school athletics (from Sno-King) as a feeder program for high school athletics. I am also concerned about childcare for elementary aged students who depend on siblings or high school aged nannies to help with after school care. If the elementary students are getting out 2 hours before the high school that is a large impact. Also - what assurances does the district have the kids will actually get more sleep if the start times change. It seems like a lot of changes and multiple stakeholders impacted for a possibility of improved learning.

I can't understand all the details. Please don't spend extra money on start times.

This is needed for kids to get a good amount of sleep. Right now I'm going to bed at a very reasonable time and I'm only getting about 7.5 hours every night, plus kids have sports going on and other things. I have club volleyball for 2.5 hours Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. And I have tournaments Sundays and Saturdays that go for 5 hours.

I graduated from Lynnwood High school in 2015. During my time in high school it seemed like a good idea to push the start times later into the day. However, looking back its not worth millions of dollars and athletes missing classes just to push the start time ahead by one hour or so.

I think it would be great if high school kids could sleep in. But many kids need to have after school jobs, and late start would make them less attractive to employers. I think some might start cutting their last class. Early release of all the athletes would also mean that the "180 day" school year is even shorter for them, which cannot be in the best interest of learners. How much would it cost to offer an extended HS day, with 7 periods, so some kids would attend 7.30 -2.30 and others 8.45-3.45?

Don't let your highschoolers scream obscenities at cars during "protests." They appear idiotic and they should be in school learning. I strongly support later start times the older kids get. They will perform much better on tests and be more attentive. As a retired teacher, we are already taxed to the breaking point. I do not agree with buying more buses. My granddaughters work and would be hurt by later starts and dismissal times. Please keep in mind the sun rise and set for younger kids riding buses. Also sports after school high school students often play sports and have a job and need time for homework

I believe high school students start school way to early. Between after school activities, sports, homework, etc. There's not enough time. Proposal A would be great if it weren't for the cost

My child already goes to a late start elementary school having either the middle school or elementary schools get out even later doesn't work. It will interfere with sports and is to late.

I think that if there is an intention of later start times, it should be enough of a time difference to truly make the expense worth it. It's the High School level that is most in need. I also believe that if start times are later, sports and schedules will shift with it, ultimately changing nothing for the student.

While I actually prefer proposal A and think a levy would pass, the amount of time it would take to initialize it makes it unappealing.

My high school student greatly struggles with the early start time. It's usually dark and freezing when she goes to school. This needs to be remedied. the later they start the better. More homework time and easier to wake up is a win, win situation. This is ridiculous. I do not know any HS students that agree with this, NOR their parents. Proposal A didn't cover K-8 schools which as a parent at a K-8 made it harder to evaluate. I think that's going to skew your results against that option. No Our high school students would definitely benefit from a later start time. However, it would be unfortunate if this would mean pushing back the starting times at the elementary level.

This still makes the high schools start earlier than everyone else, when teenagers in high school have natural, normal later sleep cycles, and still doesn't take into account the kids who play sports outside of school, where the older you are, the later your practice starts, with practice ending at 9:30-10 at night, regularly. That mixed with a child who also plays in Jazz Band before school means that sleep is still a challenge for those kids. If you aren't getting home until 10-10:30, then still have to shower and settled down, and get up at 6 (or earlier) the next day for Jazz Band. I understand it is complicated with busing and such, and I thank you all for your work. I just want to make sure that if the schedules are changing so that kids can get more sleep, that they are changing enough for kids to actually be able to benefit from more sleep. Moving it back at all is a great step forwards.

We need to put the student's well being (need for sleep) above everything else. It will negatively impact people, but sometimes people have to sacrifice for the betterment of a whole. People will adjust and figure out how to deal with their issues. I think starting elementary students at 7:45 is not appropriate. School busses would come pick them up around 7:15 am, correct? If the goal is to get away from having high school students start that early, why would you make a 5 year old start at that time? Then think of all those students that have to be in childcare until their parents get off work (5/5:30). It makes for a really long day.

Unless I over looked it, Lynnwood Elementary was not on your list of schools to choose from. I have one child there and one at the early learning center. I'd like to know what effect changes in start times will have on zero-period class start times. Kids need their sleep!

I strongly support any proposal that accomplishes the goal of pushing start times for high school later in the day. My 15-year-old son currently rises for the day at 5:30am, in order to participate in a zero-hour music class. His pediatrician believes that he should be getting a bare minimum of 9 hours of sleep at night. In order to accomplish this, he would need to be asleep by 8:30pm. As a young adult with post-pubescent melatonin levels, this is a practical impossibility. He can't fall asleep at 8:30 any more easily than I could and thus he is sleep deprived, which affects his concentration and his health. He should not be forced to choose between his personal health and participation in one of the best music programs in the state simply to facilitate the scheduling of athletic events.

Thank you for considering this. Our teenager would do better with later high school start, especially with zero period band

Flip middle and high school start times. Focus on school not sports.

High schools should definitely be the latest start schools. Would it be possible to have all high schools start at 920am? And keep the K-8 schools and challenge program at 920am because they pull from the entire district? and split the 8am and 840am starts between the middle schools and elementary school? I do think a 945am start time is too late for a decent release time at end of day. Cost, cost and cost. We need our money to go to instruction.

My older son is in Seattle Public schools as a high schooler, and his experience has been so much better since they moved to an 8:45 start time. His grades are better, he is not as exhausted all the time, and he is enjoying school more. I would love for my Edmonds school district daughter to have the same experience as she moves into high school. I know of highschool students who walk to to the elementary school to pick up siblings on their way home. It would cause a financial burden on families to seek childcare if elementary students were released before hs and ms students.

High school definitely needs to start later -- the early start impedes learning and causes stress, both physical and emotional. In addition, the high school kids get out too early right now, and they spend too much time unsupervised while parents are at work (playing video games and viewing social media).

With the high schools offering a zero period course, later start times are needed. Later release time means less open time before parents are home, possibly reducing time for shenanigans. I also believe that lunch needs to be longer. Dedicate a full period of time for lunch. Schools become 7 periods, but 1 is a lunch, split amongst the school over 2 or 3 periods. Did this when I was in high school; lunch was either 3rd, 4th or 5th period. A full hour of time to socialize is very important for the youth. Having to hurriedly eat in 30 minutes time cannot be good. High school and middle school students need just as much sleep time as elementary school students. I guess I'm just not understanding why they can't all have similar, later in the morning, start times.

Honestly, I think things are fine now albeit the HS start time is a bit early, but it works well for students who have to work or have other after school activities.

I was unable to select both "parent" and "staff". It's ridiculous to propose a $4 million change to accommodate high school start times. High school aged children are old enough to be exposed to more real world like conditions including an earlier start to thier day.

This could seriously impact families who need childcare. If my elementary kid was to start at 930am instead of 840, id have several hundreds of dollars extra in morning childcare monthly. If middle school kids got out 2 hours after elementary, that could leave younger kids without and older sibling to watch them. Also, The first proposal is expensive and the money could be better used on other things.

Getting rid of Middle School athletics would be terrible. Also, middle school gets out at 415 - when do some of those children get home? What about having them get to school at 945? Who is watching them? Most families have two working parents - Option C is probably the worst I have ever seen in 16 years as an educator.

Leave the start/end times for schools alone. The times as they are now, for example, work for working families with children in multiple grades. Messing with that, messes with parental work schedules, childcare arrangements, and extracurricular family activities. Thank you for listening to parents! 9:20+ start for the younger kids is too late. Teens have different melatonin levels and could use a later start. Flipping the schedules is preferred, even if it costs more to implement at the beginning.

The education system needs an overhaul but not in start times costing millions of dollars, we need smaller classes and more teachers. DROP COMMON CORE

I used to teach at a high school that had a start time of 9:30 and there is a definite benefit to high schools starting later, but at the same time student athletes struggle with the time change. Overall I am in favor of a later start time for high school students but would like to see elementary schools start earlier to help accommodate this, which I didn't really see as one of the options. I think 8am start times (vs earlier) for middle and high school would help students productivity.

Please don't make elementary start times later. This is very difficult for working parents. My elementary school kids has to get up at 6 am no matter when school starts. By 4 pm she is exhausted. She will have no focus or energy left if school went on that late.

I like it the way it is. I don't feel that elementary school students should start any earlier than they already are.

Just please keep in mind those of us that have graduates this year! Thank you Not clear what is the proposed time. Do not include what is current. Can you resend it with clear time proposal? Thank you I think that school early start times are very important as we are preparing our children for adulthood. I know that later start times will be unconvincing a lot of parents including myself with my 9-5 job.

High school kids need to start early so they are prepared to work in the real world that starts early.

I am very disappointed that the potential elementary school times are all still later then the high school times. The point of the discussion has been that elementary school kids do better in the mornings while high school kids do not. Having kids in school before 8 AM or after 3:45 PM is entirely too disruptive to family schedules regardless of the age of the student . Elementary students who have activities after school are negatively impacted by schools that start after 9:00 AM. None of the options you listed benefit both older students in high school and younger students in elementary school. Your choices only benefited one group or the other. Please take the time to research other options that would be good for both high school and elementary school.

Along with starting high school later, sports need to have the games as soon as possible after school. The kids either go home and come back for games, or they stay at school the entire time and are at school from 7:00 am to after 9:00 pm. When the kids play at Oak Harbor they have get home after 11:30 pm.

WHAT IF PROPOSAL C SWITCH THE 14 ELEMENTARY WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL? THAT WOULD HELP WITH AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS IN MS AND AFTERSCHOOL CARE FOR ELEMENTARY.

Documented evidence support later wake-up times for teens. Everything else will fall into place.

Better lighting on street in front of H S. And a speed warning sign and bright crosswalk lines and a flashing light at close crosswalks in front of school. I have seen children nearly hit by cars who cannot see them in the dark mornings.

Please actually make a change to high schools' later start this time. It's a long time coming. Other school districts are making the change and Edmonds can too.

I really don't think the school district needs to ask for more money when the state is already in the deficit to fund schools. as a parent of a HS and MS student, a little later start time would be beneficial as this age group truly needs extra sleep time to be fully functional. As parents of a Martha Lake Elementary kindergartener, we are happy with the school times as they are now.

I think the money spent on start times would be better spent on updated curriculum for our classrooms. Just revamping or not even considering new curriculum is putting our students at a disadvantage when compared to neighboring districts. No new SS curriculum for over 11 years and just rekitting current science kits is not going to help our students. I'm really disappointed as a parent.

Don't we spend enough on taxes already. Won't earlier start times be good for the students to prepare for the real world. I am greatly concerned about all the missed class time for high school students involved in sports. Why would we be getting them out of class early? Isn't the goal here to have them do better in school… And that would be greatly affected by taking them out early. I would appreciate you also taking into consideration that quite a bit of high school students have after school jobs. Getting out later will greatly affect the options they have.

The school start time for elementary should all be the same 8:10am

I don't think that any kids at any age need to start school after 9, and I'm concerned that even if we bought more buses we wouldn't be able to find drivers for them.

I already think the 9:20-3:50 time that Brier Elementary has is too late. In the middle of winter it's close to dark by the time the bus gets to our neighborhood. And it's hard to schedule anything in the evening and have time for homework, dinner and a reasonable bedtime. I absolutely do not like the proposal that our school have a 9:45-4:15 school day. That makes for a long day for our youngest students.

School start times are fine and should remain unchanged There is no need to change start times.

Kids should not be expected to walk 3/4 mile in the pitch dark. Either have buses pick the kids up at their houses or change the times so they are not walking in the dark. At 0630 it's just to dark and not safe at all.

I'm with Edmonds K-12 and have a variance from Everett. I have kids in Elementary, Middle and High school and we all arrive at school at the same time - and I stay with them from 9-4. I don't like any of the times - especially the mornings. Our school time is just fine for our homeschool community. Please do not change us.

I will have kids in all three levels of school starting in 2018. I like a later start time for high school because studies I have read show so many academic and health benefits for this age group. I don't really like the later release times at all. My Terrace Park kids take the bus and are already gone eight hours a day and don't get home until 4:15. What this means now is less family time and more rushing to get to and fit in after school activities. An even later time would mean they're potentially walking home in the dark. I like more sleep in the morning, but don't want my kids getting home super late either. I think later afternoon hours could also interfere with part-time jobs for high schoolers.

I'm not a huge fan of kids missing school to participate in sports. I did this in middle school though (Shoreline district) and it wasn't a huge deal for me. I think there was buy-in from the teachers and they were supportive of kids who left early.

I would support a levy for more buses, but don't know if the community would be behind it. Thanks for researching this and asking for community feedback. B does not strike me as a valuable option at all. There is minimal adjustment to the high school start time, but pushes some elementaries far too late. My kids already have the 9:20 start, and they get home at 4:15. That is often pushing it to do homework, any after school activity, social time within their neighborhood, or get to bed at a reasonable time. I am opposed to getting young children in the habit of doing homework the morning it is due, but of the above activities that is the only one that can be put off to morning when they get home late. It seems ridiculous to have young children getting home from school at 5 pm.

Option C has the best value for all age levels at a reasonable cost to the district. And as a sub, I'm willing to say I'd happily take some afternoon classes to help out with coaches! No change needed we want school start time early at 7:20am so i can get home on time to care for my azhiemer mom at home. and my daughter have to go to work after school. Please don't have start times for any school later than 9:05! It makes it so hard to work  .

I feel the 7:20 start time is most appropriate for High School students. My son attends early morning seminary at 6 AM before going to MTHS and does not have any problem getting up early. This schedule helps teenagers with the transition to college and careers where they will be required to be up early. I don't think we're doing them any favors by letting them sleep late. My son participates in cross country and wrestling, so he is often out until 9 PM when at a meet. Even still, he is able to get home and get quickly to bed and get enough sleep. My daughter at BTMS loves the current schedule. I have 3 kids at MW co-op and I can't imagine having them get home any later. If we went to the 4:45 dismissal time with proposal B, it would be nearly 5:30 when they got off the bus. That cuts into dinner and family time way to much. The cost associated with proposal A is outrageous with hardly any benefit to students. I feel leaving schedules as they currently are is in the best interest of students, families and the community. Thank you! The very early start times are difficult for older kids and our family. Thank you! this needs to be changed ASAP - our teens are having to fight against their own bodies to do well in school.

Early rising is hard on children.

Thanks for doing this. It is VERY hard to rank b and c, when no estimate of implementation timeline is given. More rapid implementation is valuable. This survey was hard to track - hard to remember the differences without a comparison table, and perhaps a pro/ con list to understand advantages and disadvantages of each. Please leave the start times alone. Currently at LHS we have so many teachers that stay after school to help students. I really think this would impact how late they would be willing to stay into dinner time. Not too mention kids that have jobs after school. If they get out later they have to start work later...and then homework. I hope we can prepare our high schoolers to for real life and life doesn't always start at 9am when you have had your beauty sleep. One more thing...let's raise money to put back into our kids...not buses. More enrichment programs, better lunches, classroom supplies. If my kids start later it just means we will fight about staying up later...same amount of sleep. Nothing gained by moving the start time. I have talked with othet parents and they feel the same way! Thank you for asking. I work full time and can't always make the meetings...especially when they are in the middle of the day.

I believe that High School start times are too early and not beneficial to the learning process. I also believe that there are a number of schools in the district that end too late in the day due to the need for a later start time because of the bus situation. eg: Catching the bus for a Kindergartner at 8:30 AM to be at and begin school at 9:20 - and then to FINALLY get off the bus at the end of the day at 4:30 PM is just too much for a 5 year old. It is a VERY long day at almost 9 hours when you factor in getting up , dressed and (hopefully) eating. It really seems that the best way to alleviate both problems would be to purchase more buses and hire more staff. I realize this does take voter approval and money - HOWEVER - this also helps to grow the economy for families in the Edmonds School District. Ultimately, the final decision will either be to the benefit or detriment of our children. Please choose wisely...

Thanks for inquiry via survey and thank you to task force members

Teen biorhythms require the latest possible high school start times. Academics should always come before athletics in the pecking order.

It would be helpful to know more about the rational for changing the start times. I like the start times as they are now! Let the kids sleep!

Seriously, kids need sleep. Younger kids need more sleep. Also, working families with kids in different schools need to work this out. Especially single moms.

Elementary schools should start earlier so parents can drop kids off at school and go to work, so we are not paying for before school care. Schools should have child care for before and after school on site.

I didn't see enough benefit to the options. Currently, I drop off my kids at school (8:40 start time) and go to work. If I had to wait until 9:30 to do this, I'd lose my job; or I would have to pay for before school care. I already pay for after school care, so this added expense is not preferable. I appreciate and understand my kids will not be in elementary school for much longer, and that they will be increasingly harder to get out of bed and enough sleep, but the added costs of Levy's and childcare are not the answer. Why was elementary starting earliest not an option? Younger children naturally get up at the crack of dawn and earlier...

What is the timeline for this decision? PE should be a replaced with a HS sport for students on a school team. It should be the last "class" of their day. This way students can still have sports before it gets dark and not get home so late to finish homework on top of household activities. Students are so tired theses days because by the time they get home, eat dinner, do homework, take showers or whatever...it's close to midnight. I don't think pushing their day later into the afternoon is effective. I do think that giving them an extra hour to sleep in the morning is highly effective.

I do not think it's smart to waste all this school funding on changing times. High school kids need to get used to getting up early. College prep and life prep. Thanks for your work! For working parents with children in multiple schools (elementary, middle and high school) having start & end times that allow for a slight difference - therefore allowing parents to drop off and pick up more easily -would be nice.

My child goes to Madrona k-8 and the current start time at 9:25am and end time at 3:50pm is very difficult for any shared family time or out of school activities because she does not get home from the bus until 4:45pm. We would greatly appreciate an earlier start time in exchange for more time in the late afternoon/evening as a family and for both my husband and I to get to work earlier.

I would like answers to how you expect to work in running start and tech classes if you move forward with a late start time for high school. You've included athletics, but not running start or tech classes. Elementary students learn and focus better in the morning. Pushing any of their learning more into the afternoon is a terrible idea. Starting Elementary school earlier is a good idea, starting Elementary any later is a bad idea.

Let the kids sleep!

Keep in mind that if we eliminate daylight savings, our preference may change. I am not happy that my child's Elementary school starts so late. 9:20. They are the earliest risers and it prevents parents from getting to work on time. It took great effort to find a job that accommodates this schedule. Middle schoolers and high schoolers naturally sleep longer into the morning. I remember struggling to wake up as a teen. I think you can offer better proposals than the ones here.

Younger children wake up naturally much earlier the older kids, so should be ar school first.

It feels sneaky of the SD to not give specifics of option D when you do for the others. Times impactbfamilies greatly in scheduling and finances and I don't feel like you're giving us adequate information. If you're using this as a tool it should be a complete one.

I see no reason why school start times should change. I do not support spending money the district does not have to make a change like this. This survey would be much easier to fill out if there was a chart with all of the start and end times on it along with the advantages/disadvantages. It's hard to go back and forth between the pages multiple times to see how this will really impact our kids. I strongly feel that 4:15 is too late for middle schoolers to get out of class. That will impact not only school sports but any other extra-curricular activities in which middle schoolers participate. Sunset on Oct 25, the last day of the cross country season, was at 6:02 this year. That gives teams less than 2 hours to get out of school, get to the meet and conduct the meet. And if it's a cloudy or stormy day there will be even less daylight. Child routinely wakes between 5-6am. If school would start at 945am I feel that would impact his learning negatively as he would be exhausted before school is out. Parent of a first grader

Getting out at 4:15pm is ridiculous. It's dark in the winter at that time. I would like to see ALL elementary schools start way earlier and the middle and high schools start later. I did not see this option for Sherwood Elementary. In my experience, the older kids need more sleep and time in the morning. While littler kids are up and raring to go by 7am. I would've like to seen a better proposal for Sherwood elem. Seems like they had the same start time or later. Is there an option to look at pushing athletic games to a later time? Seems like that is one of the biggest hiccups I'm changing the start times for middle and high schools.

Personally though, none of these proposals seem to have the change that we need. School starting later means ending later and then students have difficulty with jobs, activities, homework, or more! Not a fan.

Proposal A has elementary starting too late when most children elementary age are up and ready to go so much earlier in the morning.

Have classes start same time every day is most important starting at different times each day is confusing both for parents and students

I chose A as my first choice bc I think all schools should start at roughly 8am. That's how the human machine works, after all. Different start times for each level of school throws kids circadian rhythms and their engagement in learning way off. I would like to see a proposal A where all district HS (not just 4) start at 8am or after, and where elementary times remain unchanged. I seek consistency for my children, and this extends to start times, therefore I'd like to see middle school begin during the 8am hr as well. I'm willing to vote for a levy and pay the tax, for this and future generations. Thank you for your time on this important issue.

This is a waste of time and money. Leave it as is and worry about EDUCATION and fair wages for educators.

Routine is one of the greatest contributors to success, proposal C is atrocious for students who would go from 7:45 am start time in Elementary (which alone is unhealthy) to a 9:05 am start time in Middle school. Minimize the time changes and maximize the most productive time of children's days. Start school after 9am is rediculous at any age. It does not consider working parents needs.

I prefer the options that are lower cost and can be implemented sooner. The middle school athletic impact of option C may not be as big of an impact if other districts change their start times as well. Even so, I am OK with just competition between ESD Middle Schools.

Research has shown that high school students do better will later start times and elementary students with earlier start times. Earlier start times for elementary/k-8 makes more sense for work schedules, daycare needs, and circadian rhythms. after reviewing the 3 new options I can't help but think that we need to have more creativity in the solutions - try harder and be more creative please. My sense is the school district came up with 3 options in the hope that the survey comes back with - do nothing and stay with the same schedule- unacceptable.

Keep in mind that if we eliminate daylight savings, our preference may change. I am not happy that my child's Elementary school starts so late. 9:20. They are the earliest risers and it prevents parents from getting to work on time. It took great effort to find a job that accommodates this schedule. Middle schoolers and high schoolers naturally sleep longer into the morning. I remember struggling to wake up as a teen. I think you can offer better proposals than the ones here.

As a parent, I am concerned with children arriving home from school any later than 3:30 or 3:50. With the amount of homework they are expected to do, when they arrive home later in the afternoon, it allows very little family time and down time. Arriving home when it's almost dark (in the winter) is not ideal. Continuing work into the evening and during dinner and family time leads to burnout. We would prefer earlier start times while encouraging students to go to bed at a resonable hour for adequate sleep... getting early also promotes good work habits for when they're older. Staying up late and sleeping in contributes to depression. Late start times only encourage that behavior.

Mainly looking at HS start times because I have 1 child left in HS. 7:45 seems appropriate, 8 is ok, 8:20 is too late and starts impacting after school activities.

High schools absolutely need to start later. But the first proposal which would take 4 years to implement is ridiculous. How can it take 4 years to buy buses? However, I really like Option 3 - it seems well thought out and has little cost impact and the 'softest' change to the other schools. Plus it could be implemented soon, which is the whole point for those of us with kids currently in high and middle school. Changes 4 years from now won't make much difference to me. Thanks for your hard work and I hope you can find a workable, fast solution!!

First of all, thank you for looking into this. It is not an easy task. Please consider the following: It seems to me you are basing you evaluations on assuming that other schools/districts keep their current times. If, however, all WA districts change their starting/ending times because it would be healthier for our students (and thus better learning!), then the athletics costs & impact would change dramatically in that times for Athletics would be changed statewide. Isn't that what we should be striving for?! ESD could be a leader in fighting for our kids' health and education by bringing WA school districts together and making a change for the better. This nation depends on the next generation. Thank you.

Very against elementary starting before 8 am

Please don't let schools out later than 3:30 pm. We get out at 3:50 and it is way too late. It really interferes with homework, afterschool activities, and family time. That extra time would be well used having a familly dinner around the table, instead of eating in the car while racing to sports/piano etc.

Later is better, especially for middle and high school! Schools are for learning, not sports, so sports are a minimal consideration to me. This should not take a year to implement. Should be immediate. Starting Fall of 2017 None of these proposals seem to put the latest start times at the high school level, which i thought was the point in shifting times to begin with. They should stay the same

Your survey is confusing! I vote for what ever it takes to have High School students on a later time, according to studies they're the most affected because of shift in teens' circadian rhythm. It's about health benefits and to help our students succeed. Others districts are already doing it!!!

I don't think any school should start before 9.

Please consider changing only the high school start time to a little later

The option with middle school starting at 9:45 is reckless unless you institute some sort of before care options or supervised activities for all kids before school. I'm not about to leave a 12 year old home alone in the morning for 2 - 3 hours and expect him to get himself up, fed, and ready for school since I have to leave for work no later than 7:15. I would be dropping him off at school about 7:20 or 7:25 and there would need to be a place for him to study or hang out or participate in activities. I'm sure I'm not the only parent who feels that way. It seems like trouble waiting to happen to happen to have a herd of unsupervised middle school students hanging out at school for a couple hours every morning. The sooner you get this implemented, the better. Current situation is awful.

I think school district should let student drop off anytime after 630am incase some parent need to drop them off before 7am because work schedule. It really seems like option B is the best for the most people, all ages of kids and tax payers too! younger kids can start at earlier times, but teenagers should start later. Missing school for athletics doesn't matter in this discussion, because school times are more important, and missing school for athletics is an athletics problem. Please do not start the elementary school kids earlier than current times! The teachers do not need to add stress to the start of the day by arriving any earlier than they already do, and the kids benefit from a good sleep and healthy breakfast to start the day. Likewise, the early start time for High school students needs to be changed. They also need a good sleep.

My son, now 15, woke up on hos own every morning at around 6:00 am for the first 13 years of his life, but didn't need to be at school until 9 am. Now that he is in a stage of rapid growth and biological change, he would sleep until 10 if we let him. Yet, he needs to leave the house at 5:55 am to make it to jazz band practice every morning at the high school. Older kids are given later time slots for athletics practices, and twice a week he doesn't get home from soccer practice until 9:45. It doesn't make sense. In addition to not matching the biological patterns of the kids it serves, the wide range of school start and end times impact my ability to work. One child needs to be dropped off at 6:15 am, another at 9 am. Pick up for the high schooler is at 1:50, but the elementary school bus gets to the bus stop at 4:00. Please help! I think the survey creators made a huge mistake because I am certain as people click their answers they will not remember which they liked 1,2,3,etc and so that question should be omitted and the tally should be "automatically" built into the survey

I am surprised that one of the proposals is to keep things as is. With the American Pediatrics Association recommending High School students go to school later, that they will learn better and have less absences due to illness and other school districts following their recommendation, how can the Edmonds School District not also change? If the main goal is support our children in their learning experience to the best of our ability, how can we not change start times?

High schools really need to start later! I'd like to see the first priorities being elementary starting earlier and getting out earlier, then high school starting a little bit later to help the many motivated students starting with 0 hour. High school students need to come to school later, for their health. It's developmentally appropriate for them to be up later and to sleep in a little. Starting HS kids earlier and earlier, is creating a situation where success is more difficult from the outset.

I think you should switch elementary start times with high school start times. Elementary students are much more able to get up early (and go to bed earlier) than high school students. Middle schoolers should not start as late as 9:45. They will be left to their own devices too much in the morning and generally lack the maturity to get themselves to school on time if the parents are at work.

I think high school should start the latest out of all schools, middle school second latest and elementary school start the earliest since elementary school kids are typically up early and high school kids need a later start. The later the high schools start, the better!

Please spend money on more pay for teachers or more teachers and teaching resources please not millions on busses

Little ones wake up earlier, teenagers need to sleep later! I'm glad to see the district looking at different time configurations. Alongside this, the district needs to also look at new approaches to school innovation. Edmonds has gotten a bit stagnant in creating new, cutting edge programs. The only reason that I voted proposal A as my least favorite is because it would be implemented too far in the future.

Flip the middle school and high school time in option c

This survey was a great idea but it's not going to help if it starts in 2021 when our children will have graduated. It should be implemented next year. With the current late dismissal of select elementary schools at 3:50pm it already impacts after school activities so a later start is not desired and I'd rather see any "extra" money spent in the classrooms, especially toward smaller class sizes.

Thank you for seriously considering ways to enable our teens to be less sleep deprived! With my high schooler in zero period and after school class (jazz band and impressions) he has a very long day with a very early start. (6-3) He comes home exhausted and starving. One hour later would be huge in his productivity and he would eat dinner with the family. Our other children attend Maplewood who also go to zero period (jazz band and choir). We commute from Bothell (on the Mill Creek border) and an earlier start would be very difficult for our Maplewood students already commuting up to 30 minutes to get to school.

Thank you for the important work you are doing!

My sixth child is in elementary school now, I really believe that we will all see greater success with later start times, especially in highschool.

Start times for high school students needs to be later. Numerous studies have shown this. Look to Seattle or the hundreds of other districts who have made the switch for how to do this and minimize the impact to athletes, etc. I hope that Edmonds will weigh research on adolescent brains and what's proven to be best for kids to guide their decision making vs what is popular. People don't generally like change, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen, or that those same folks won't end up seeing it's merits in the end. Be strong, Edmonds!

Research is clear that kids learn better with more sleep. High schoolers go to bed the latest yet start school the earliest. I'd like to see them start no earlier than 7:45am. I understand that athletics and sibling childcare and jobs may conflict for some people, but those are not priorities in the best interest of our youth or children. Our kids need a good education and enough sleep to learn to succeed in life. As a local Family Minister and parent I urge the District to move back High School start times as soon as possible. Since there is minimal to no cost would this go into place before 2021-22? Also did you survey staff in our schools?

I'm disappointed in the solutions offered. I was hoping that high school start times would be at 8:45 similar to the Seattle School District. :( Match Seattle starts

Our daughter is severely disabled and has multiple medical issues. She is currently in Maplewood Center with a full time nurse attending her on the bus and at school. We're told that she will be moved to Mountlake Terrace high next school year. She currently leaves home at 8:30 and Mountlake Terrace high school STARTS at 7:20 so we expect her pick up time to be at least 100 plus minutes earlier. Considering her complex medical needs and demands to get ready for school, the big change of the school start times is a big impact to us. We understand that the district can not fulfill everyone's request, however, we must at least let the district know about our situation. Since special needs student bus travels a wide area across the district boundary, the travel time tends to be long. Our daughter can not sit up for a long time due to her respiratory issues. We request alternative option for the student with special needs if the high school start times remains the same as now. Thank you,

Please start later as soon as possible. The high school start times especially, must start later. Having a start time at 7:20 is very detrimental for the natural sleep cycle of kids this age. Having kids who have a zero hour (either with band or TOK), doesn't make any sense at all. The only result is that these kids get less sleep and do not function as well during the school day. In order to get 8 hours sleep, they need to be in bed no later than 9:30, which is not possible for most kids. Please make the high school start time later as soon as possible.

I know the teenagers want later start times and claim that scientifically they learn better at later times during the day. However, I think getting up earlier is better preparation for life in the corporate workplace, and biologically it is no different than adapting to a different time zone. Plus the earlier school day opens up more opportunities for involvement in sports and after school jobs. I think given the financial constraints of our state/district, it is better to keep things the way they are. Let's focus on fully funding our education before we increase our costs to add more buses, etc.

No homework will be great as well.... Enough they have for being in school all day. Elementary schools should start earlier and high school later. The older kids need more morning sleep! Younger kids go to bed earlier and can handle an earlier start. For parents- do you think we should all get to work at 10 am??? Having the elementary students start quite a bit earlier so that the HS students can start later is not a reasonable option. Just as High School students may be tired and find it difficult to start early, it is too hard on Elementary students. for parents that work 8-5 it has no impact since we will still need pre/after care

Plan b or c could be implemented ASAP and then switch to A after busses are purchased. **I think they k-8 schools should be on the same schedule as the middle schools.

I feel very strongly that our high schoolers start school the latest possible time of 8:25AM. It's a win win situation where teens plus teachers are getting more sleep and the costs are not as high as the 8:00 start time. Our ESD kids deserve more sleep and the many benifits that come from this just like the other districts in our area! We are an affluent area and can pay for the costs involved to help our children succeed.

Athletes shouldn't have to miss class by changing school times!!! Kids will just stay up later if they know that school times is later!!! We need to be getting our seniors ready for real world...not reversing their wake up times!

Thank you for listening to parents and research and for taking at least this step!

I don't like going too late in the afternoon as it gets tough to make after school appointments, like the orthodontist. Also, I take my daughter to Edmonds Woodway on my way to work-having a later start time would mean I would need the library open at school for her to hang out until school starts. EDWY is out of our area. I don't like her taking the public bus in the morning.

I think high school should start as late as possible while being out by 3pm.

High school should start no earlier than 10:00 am. Middle school should start as late as possible. Elementary school should start earliest. Please do not move Cedar Way's start time to earlier in the morning for the following reasons. 1) Working parents (myself included) cannot get off early enough to pick up children after school if they are released before 3pm. I can barely make it there as it stands right now with a release of 3:10pm. 2) It is hard to get children moving that early in the morning let alone functioning in a classroom environment. and 3) High Schools should have the earlier start and release times because they are old enough to care for themselves after school AND getting up early prepares them for what life in the workplace is going to be like anyways. Proposal C would have the greatest negative impact on those of us who can not afford private sports teams for our children.

Adjusting the time to end school before 3:00 would cripple working parents who are already struggling to make the current pick up time

Middle school sports are incredibly important. It's a non-threatening way to encourage kids to stay involved, and helps build our programs that feed the high school programs. Cutting them out in Option C is not a viable option for me. Also, I know an incredible amount of work went into these proposals and appreciate the information. I also wondered about an Option A "light," where ESD purchases just a few buses to alleviate the overflow, adjust some of the elementary times, and not require such a long timeline and huge budget.

I don't feel like a 7:45 start time for option B is enough benefit to impact all the other schools and 4:15 is super late for elementary to get out, so I prioritized it after option D, however I would definitely still support it if chosen. Option A is ideal however I don't see it passing to get funding so may as well take it off the list. People who don't have high schoolers don't see the benefit and already schools are underfunded. Thank you for exploring these options.

Concerned about losing the ability to participate in Sno-king athletics and also having elementary school students starting before 8:00. That is too early for young people to wake up and start learning.

I've had children in the current system for over 19 years. The obscenely early start times (High school) have been incredibly difficult and very stressful to navigate as a family with multiple children at the various levels. That said, just the sleep/success studies ALONE should have compelled a change decades ago! High school students need more sleep in the morning , thank you Later start time for high schools; least financial cost

Since many jobs start around 8 a.m. and college classes rarely start before 8 a.m., I think it makes sense to start high school classes no earlier than 8:00 a.m. My children's elementary school already starts and ends so late (9:20 - 3:50) and so any option that has their school starting and ending any later than that is highly unfavorable.

Bottom line: research says teenagers need to start school later. Latest is best.

Why can't the high schools start after the middle schools?

Its been a while since we had kids in Elementary. But they were more agreeable to an early start time. High Schoolers can do it, but our often sleep when they get home in the afternoon, which messes up their evening schedule. Sports activities seem to be less effected by options b&C.

Physiologically speaking, elementary should start earliest and high school latest None are great for working parents! Work starts from 7AM on. Get students ready for the workforce.

High Schools need to be later. Zero period at 6:15 is unreasonable for families and 1:50 release is too early.

Sorry for the silly question but you never explained / clarified: What exactly is the connection between school start times and the described costs??

I think High School Students need more time to sleep to function at a higher level and therefore should start school later. (I'm a parent of a Kindergarten and pre school student) I don't feel this is an issue to which significant additional funds should be directed to.

While I think it is important to consider moving high school start times earlier, I am concerned about the impact of proposals that would move elementary start times later than they already are. If the goal of changing times is to improve the academic performance of high school students, we should make sure that we are not sacrificing the academic performance of elementary students who generally wake up earlier and are not able to perform well late in the afternoon. Having young, tired students in school until 4:45 pm in the afternoon (proposal B) just does not make sense. Keep the big picture in mind!

I realize not all children struggle with getting up so early for school, but it has been shown that the health of our children would be better protected, as well as their chances of performing better academically, if their sleep pattern was shifted later. If all schools that competed in sports were the same start times, a lot of the problems of timing of sporting events might be more surmountable. Planning this should go further than just isolated school districts.

I'm concerned about moving the start times of some elementary schools even later. My daughter is up early like many of her friends, so waiting until 9:45 to start schools seems very late. By 3:50, when she gets out of school now, she is already tired so I can't imagine that she or other young students will be productive until 4:15 pm. It is already difficult for my daughter and her classmates to make it to after school activities. A later end time would make it even more difficult.

I like having the elementary kids going earliest, then high school, with middle schools starting last. Seems to align most with what I've read and noticed about children's sleeping habits. This would also allow my big kid to take the little one to school and reduce my need for childcare. I would like for high school to start later, but missing class time in order to participate in athletics is unacceptable.

I prefer option A; 8:00 to 2:30, but the cost seems exorbitant compared to the minimal cost of the 7:45 start time. If costs were equal, I would choose A.

The whole point was to have the HIGH SCHOOL start later. My preference is 8:45am-3:15. I don't like ANY of the options presented.

Teenagers also have after school jobs that would be affected by moving the time.

I appreciate that the school district is trying to implement a class schedule that is more conducive of learning for all our students. As a parent and a tax payer, I would appreciate feedback (the pros and cons) from a few surrounding districts (parents, teachers and students) that recently changed their bell schedule. I prefer the idea of keeping everything the same. The most expensive plan (plan A) would have great start times, but I think it's too expensive to be realistic. Plan B is a small change, but would have many impacts for buildings - before/after school programs, community involvement, updating digital and printed school materials. I don't feel it's worth it for a small amount of change. Any option that has children going until 4:15 is not a good option. Most kids have afterschool activities and with kids possibly not getting home until 5 with the buses it would cause issues for those children and there parents.

I like Proposal A's start-end times, but not the high costs. Proposals B and C are cost-effective but the start-end times are too disruptive. Proposal D (no change) is the best near-term option from my perspective, without knowing what issues/concerns currently exist.

It would be terrible for my elementary school age child to have to be at school at 7:45am (about an hour earlier than currently). My husband and I both work full- time and some days don't get home with our kids (we also have two younger children) until around 6pm. To cram dinner, homework, a little relaxing/quality time, and bed time into a small window of time can already be a little difficult some nights. If our elementary school start time was earlier than it currently is, we would feel the crunch even more to get our young kids to bed earlier, but most likely they would really not be getting all the sleep they really need. I understand the motivation for older kids to not start school so early, but I don't think this should be at the expense of younger kids starting earlier and not getting the sleep they need.

Difficult to rate these options. I don't like start times after 9am. It leaves the children no time to play outside in the winter since it is dark shortly after 4pm. Since teens seem to have the hardest time going to sleep early, it makes sense to have them start the latest. Also, events keep them up, such as sports, working, and homework. school is good right now with the school starting time

I believe something has to change as high school is too early. I'm worried about the cost. And I'm also worried about multiple start times as I have three kids. Elementary shouldn't be so early either (7:45am ouch)

Thank you for all the hard work on this subject and we appreciate being asked for our feedback.

Staggering the start times , and starting later makes sense. Keeping the kids in after school sports and programs is equally important. It would be ideal if it could be accomplished without more burden on the taxpayers.

I do not like any late start times for any of the levels of school doesn't work for families

4:15 is to late of a dismissal time for Elementary or Middle. Most kids are in after school activities and if a parent can't go get a child at school the buses take a lot of time to get kids home, especially with the choice school or special education transportation, they would have a difficult time participating.

I think the high schoolers need more sleep. The grade schoolers can start earlier cause they're up anyways. Middle school should land somewhere in between. why are we changing it?

My biggest concern is the impact later start times will have on extra curricular activities K-12.

I'm a single mom- a later start time would help match up my work schedule- especially since my son would like to attend a magnet school MLTHS for STEM and there isn't a bus where I live to take him to that school or pick him up. If the district wants students to attend magnet schools there should be some help in transportation to get them there or help match with normal work schedules. Thanks for reading!

Although my high school sophomore says he would enjoy getting up a bit later, the truth at our house is that he goes to sleep at a reasonable time for his wake time. That is the bottom line.

These survey questions, particularly Proposal B, were poorly written and that will likely affect the survey results. I'm not clear what the current start times are and it would be helpful to see them side by side with the proposals.

A 4:15 Middle School end time, even at a K-8 school, is simply unacceptable.

December sunset tables displays sunsets at about 4:18pm throughout December. I don't see how this is a viable and safe option. Elementary School starting between 8:40 - 9:00 is best

My son goes to an early morning bible Study class (Seminary) which is before school. The later start time would mean he would get more sleep and would not only do better in school, but would be so appreciated by several of the students and their parents. It seems problematic for the start times for schools of the same level to be all over the clock. I would hope the district would consider rethinking this aspect, along with the start times changes. I believe firmly that we must but students' education first, even if it costs more. Right now, start times are not in alignment with children's biological sleep patterns and they aren't doing as well as they could.

It's interesting to consider HS drivers for families - if HS starts before MS and ES, HS drivers are unable to drive their siblings to school. Additionally, there was not a proposal which shifted everyone to 8:00am or later - if studies are showing that the propensity for learning is greater with better sleep or later start times, why do we still have classes beginning before 8? SI would have much rather seen the reasoning behind each proposal as opposed to the budget. If the children are supposed to benefit from these changes, I would like to know how the district is coming up with the plans/proposals. And sports, while important, should be the last item considered when it comes to "impacts" - it's an earned privilege to play sports and if games/practice take you away from the classroom, you must manage your time to make up the work you missed in class. Preparing students for the future means holding them responsible where privileges and responsibilities intersect. 9:45 for a grade school start time is way too late!!

Pedestrian safety is important. Please consider how change in start/release hours are impacted by winter darkness and visibility. My kindergartener has an extremely hard time with an 8am start and he even hoes to bed at 7pm. 8am is too early Later start times for high school is not about getting more sleep for teenagers. It is about having better focus and concentration at a later start time. Morning classes and instruction suffer when offered too early to a teen. For option A, why don't HS and MS share busses to reduce cost?

I would prefer to have my daughter home earlier in the afternoon, and an earlier bedtime too so I'm good with an earlier school start time.

I am a younger, adoptive parent of incoming EWHS freshman and an imcoming CPM 7th grader. I graduated from high school in 2004, with honors. I was involved in many sports and clubs while juggling many College in the High School, and Honors classes. School started at 7:10 and got out at 1:55 pm. Yes, it hard at times, but I have found success in life to be much the same. It would have been easier if I would have taken easier classes or done less extracurricular activities. It would have been easier if I had done my homework earlier, instead choosing of hanging out with my boyfriend after school so many days... But guess what? I learned from those choices - the good ones, and the bad ones. There will always be kids who stay up and chat on their phones until the wee hours and then complain they are tired. There will always be parents that don't enforce curfews or take away electronics at bed time. Moving the start times to a later hour in the morning is only going to increase the sense of entitlement in our young people, which is really the last thing they need. It is our job to prepare them for "the real world," not to coddle them. They will soon be expected to get up and be on time for their jobs and college classes, without excuses. Life is what you make of it. If late night athletic games and practices are making it difficult for high school students to get home and to bed on time, I believe our focus should be on finding a solution for those issues instead. Also, what about the bus drivers who make a living off of a full-time occupation of driving high school, then middle school, then elementary school kids to school and then reverse the whole thing when bringing them home in the afternoon? I believe they deserve some consideration, whether or not people are willing to say it's worth the extra cost for more bus drivers and vehicles. What about the parents who rely on the help of older siblings to help with younger ones after school? What about the importance of that oh-so-precious time spent with our families? Some of the proposed schedules have kids getting out at 4:15 pm. I know this would cut into our already hard to come by family time. I have heard what is being said on the Edmonds Moms Facebook pages and it sounds like my opinion may or may not be the popular one, but I urge anyone involved in this decision making process to please consider all the factors before rushing ahead just because the latest research says teens need more sleep. Teens could be getting more sleep by going to bed earlier. Let's search for more sensical ways to make sure they get that opportunity.

If kids are too tired, we need to find ways to provide them the opportunity to get to bed earlier at night and help facilitate that. Changing the school start times wont help anything and will just have a negative domino effect on many people in our community, the students included.

As a parent of elementary aged children, it is clear to me that they are able to get up and function well at an earlier time than older pre-teens/teenagers, and also, as a working parent it is easier to have younger children who need before-day care start school earlier, than teens who can get themselves to the bus or school. It seems clear that an earlier start for elementary and later start for secondary is the way to go and science seems to back that up as well.

Proposal A is arguably the best times, but the long implementation time reduces its desirability, unless another proposal was implemented in the interim. As a working parent, finding transportation for my child would be extremely difficult if they started school after 9am. I really hope this doesn't happen.

Thank you so much for putting this together. If the school district can purchase additional buses like mentioned in the first option, I wonder if high school start time can be much later than currently suggested 8:00 am because with all the buses there should be a lot of flexibility. Also it is a bummer that athletes need to miss classes for their activities. Could the sport events be moved back to adjust to later start times?

Our 9:20 start time is too late. The survey is very confusing. I want to be very clear that I do not want our kids to start any later than they already do. I would prefer our kids started at 8:30 or 9. As they get into high school, I understand a later start date and am supportive of that measure. Thank you.

Our household fully supports later start times for HS. Thank you for all your work on this subject!

Any start after 9:00 especially for younger children who need supervision/care before school makes it EXTREMELY difficult for working parents. It would mean more money for many families.

School start times were late in ESD at Beverly Elem when my father attended 5th grade in 1960, and he started at 9:45am as a young boy. As a parent to 2 young boys as well waking up at 6am daily, 9:45am for a school start is an ineffective idea. As history shows ESD didn't stay with this plan in the 1960s so please strongly consider NOT adjusting Elem's to later start please.

Please do not change elementary to later than 8am. Please do not change middle or high school beyond 8:30am and ensure campuses are open by 7:45am for all of us parents who work.

Parents will need to decide what is more important, school start times or kids' sports? Moving time to 7:45am for high school provides very little benefit for the trouble of moving all other times. Please, make the change worth while to all, not just one group. I don't mind paying higher tax if all kids benefit. High schoolers need to learn to go to bed early so they can get up early. It's part of being an adult and helps prepare them for work later on. How many of our citizens get up even earlier than they do to commute to Seattle!! dont change it

As someone who works in sleep health care, it had been shown that the issue is not the wake time, but rather the bedtime. More children have TV's in their room which is horrible for circadian rhythm disorder due to the fluctuating light. Having electronics removed 1hr before bedtime encourages healthy sleeping habits. I do not feel changing the time is the better option. If anything, having a late start time could cause late sleep latency issues as adults. It seems financially unresponsible to increase cost when the solution is easily achievable at home.

Please keep the original schedule, because kids have after school activities.

If B had HS start at 8 or 8:25, that would improve that option, but it's at least an improvement from 7:20 to 7:45. Thanks! Colleen

I think all elementary schools should start at the same time OR the middle schools that the elementary schools feed into need to end early enough so middle school siblings can pick up their elementary brothers/sisters if need be I appreciate your researching these options, I know it is a lot of effort. I hope the Elementary and Middle School parents are able to look to the future for their students and realize later start times are best for high school students.

I think having younger children go after the teen drivers are all parked is safer for walkers. I think the older kids need to discipline themselves to get to bed and get the sleep required. Also for child care, the older ones don't need babysitters when they get out at 1:50 but the younger ones would. I don't like this trend.

K-8 should be same times as middle schools. We should implement B or C while awaiting levy for addtl busses, then switch to A.

Please don't start middle school and high school any later than 8-8:15. Screws up jobs and sports. I don't want my kid missing classes to attend a sport event and miss their jobs. Kids need to learn to manage their time better especially in high school. They will be on their own in less than 4 years.

What about half days on Fridays, I know other districts do it.

We have kids in 2 different elementary schools so having them on the same schedule would be nice. All of the elementary start times are too late in these proposals.

Proposals B and C are ridiculous. A is good, but if the district is going to spend money I think it should be on schools and not buses. Really, as a parent of a high school student I see no reason to upset the fruit basket just to try to move high school start times later. If we start later, kids will just have to show up to practice early--probably earlier than they go to school now--so for many of our students it will accomplish nothing. I would like the district to consider doing half days on Wednesday like the Lake Washington School district. I would like the district to consider doing half days on Wednesday like the Lake Washington School district. No Questions at this time. Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to give an opinion. High school should start and release earlier to prepare them for working schedules after they graduate, middle and elementary around the same so they can look after younger siblings.

There have been so many studies and successful school districts who have switches start times for elementary and high school ages so younger children start earlier and older children start later. It is frustrating to try to provide my elementary aged child time to play after school when he gets out so late. He has no play time and it effects his success. While more high schoolers are strugging to be successful on a schedule that does not support their natural sleep cycle. WHY WAS THAT NOT A PRESENTED OPTION?

Students shouldn't have to miss school for sports so that you can change start times! That is more of an impact!!! (Miss out on education). High School students will not go to bed any earlier if you change start times....knowing they dont have to get up...they will just stay up later...just like the weekends!!! Many families depend on the high school student to help families in afternoon with the younger siblings Please do not start elementary schools before 8 am. This is not fair to do to the youngest students in the district. I understand this is complicated, but would like for these students to be considered in this decision as well. The end times is what concerns me during winter Propsal B does not give a start time for Maplewood K-8 (currently a 920 start time)

Please just focus on the education of our kids. This sounds like someone's pet project that has gotten out of control. Why don't you, instead, focus on making sure teachers are showing up for work and being respectful of our kids? Kids listen and observe the actions of their teachers...and share with their parents.

Both of my children have gone through the Edmonds district. While they were in high school it was very apparent they would have done better with a later start time. I volunteer at the elementary level. There it's a mixed bag. Some are so tired and some so wired (energetic).

A lot of parents I know put their younger kids in before/after school programs just buy time to be at work anyway, so moving the elementary times to accommodate the higher schools times would be a good compromise. Otherwise, I'd rather pay for more buses than ruin the middle school's entire athletics program.

In all honesty, none of these options are ideal. I understand there are logistics and other complex layers in play here but I do not have that in-depth knowledge. It seems by helping one age group (later start times for high school, which is good), you inevitably hurt another (too late of a start for middle school 9:45am?). The "best" option is also of course the most expensive, which I then had to factor into my ranking. I would like to see proposals B or C implemented while the funding for proposal A is put into place.

I would like to see priority and focus given to allowing our developing children time to sleep. Proposing earlier start times is not desirable! This is good way to survey opinion. Thank you.

Would sure like to know what percentage took this survey. This is a major decision for all citizens, not only students will be impacted. Very nervous about this!!

Starting kids later makes it difficult for working parents to get kids to and from school. It also eats up after school activities. Please leave the schedules alone.

Proposal A seems the most equitable, but it increases costs quite dramatically. I think this survey is missing essential background information that is necessary for respondents to provide meaningful information. The current start times are not provided (or are not evident), and this information is needed in order to provide a good, informed opinion. If the current situation is explicitly identified, then not changing from that option should be a proposal in this survey. Next, research on start times for various age groups should be provided and explained to respondents so that a more informed decision can be made, too. Lastly, typical work times for parents (whatever those are) should be considered in any decision, too. There have been many studies done on school start times. Young kids learn better at earlier times, even though I don't particularly care for that, if it benefits the kids why not. Then there is the fact that later start times for high school kids is very beneficial, but you've got the issue of school sports. Maybe an early release program for sports participants....? don't change it High schoolers should have the latest start time.

I support and feel a need for older kids to start later, but didn't like the 4 million cost, also being a early start elementart school already, don't like the option of my kindergarteners starting before 8... 7:45 they need sleep too and think that although not all elementary schools can start at same time, seems unfair for some to start over and hour/plus later..... that's a big difference on the little kids success as well High school kids need more sleep. Thanks for heading this way

Thank you - this is much needed!!

High School starts too early. Elementary school current times are OK. We need to look at better funding before and after school care. The on site boys and girls club was not an environment I want my child in. I would rather pay more in taxes or levies and have a lower adult to child ratio and a higher quality care setting. I pay way more for a nanny to pick my child up. Id rather pay more in taxes and have a good after school program on site at school.

Our first consideration as parents, teachers, and administrators is to prepare our children for life. As society grows more complex, as the job market evolves, the school schedule should be adjusted to maximize learning and thereby help students to prepare for higher education and employment. The days when a person could have a decent life/living with just a high school diploma are gone.

Regarding the school schedule, there is evidence that little kids do better earlier, and big kids later. I advocate starting times in the area of 7:30, 8:30, and 9:30 for elementary, middle, and high school respectively.

This shouldn't cost the district much, if anything. Some parents, however, object to the later time for high school as it can interfere with after-school jobs and especially sports.

Going back to the evolving job market, the team approaches now taken in many classes and programs certainly teaches them about teamwork and collaboration. If there are other lessons to be gleaned from sports, parents can certainly make this happen outside of school time in the various leagues and clubs around the area.

If we aren't going to flip the schedule, I'm just as happy to leave things as they are. PLEASE - later the better is the mantra - later works well for students and parents

My preference is base on middle to elementary start and end time respectively. this helps parents like me to schedule a 15mins pick-up and drop off time range.

I think High Schools start WAY too early today. I like Proposal A, but the cost involved makes it not the first choice. Proposal B moves back start times enough for High Schoolers, without making the Elementary and Middle Schools start too late. Basically, the start times are close enough together across all three schools, and not too early or late. This is helpful for the kids to get enough sleep, and also helpful to parents who have kids in multiple school types (e.g., one child in Middle, Elementary and/or High).

I would like an option where high school starts later, ASAP. Waiting until 2021/22 is not helpful to kids now. this was poorly designed poll. I would like to see the proposals side by side for comparison purposes. I believe all grade levels should be picked up at each bus stop at one time and then drop them off at each school with shorter staggered start times. That may be what option A is but it was not specified. People have to work, changing the start time makes f hard to work. Can't afford childcare and need to work by 9

All schools in the district including running start students, should have at least 5 days of overlapping break. My senior goes back to school the day we get out. We really do not want the current Westgate Elementary start time of 8:40am to change. Thank you.

I think it is a terrible idea to have Elementary start even earlier! I would prefer our Elementary starting later... 8am is early enough!

School for all students should begin later in the morning. Studies have shown that students thrive more with later start times. How is being in class at 7:20am conducive to effective learning?

If it's not broke don't try to "fix" it. Is that start time delay for high schools enough? In order to capitalize on existing research on the greatest testing differences for students with later starts, why not start even later?? As long as you're doing it do it right! Like 10:00?

High school students need more sleep in the morning, so do their parents.

The earlier the better

Instead of changing timings, the extra money that comes into budget with the change of times can be used for other developmental activities.

My wife and I both work. Staying the same start time of 7:20 and 8AM works with most working families. Bus home or walk home. Kids need to learn how to self manage. Manage homework, activities and bedtime. High schoolers will be on their own soon. They will not have their mommies and daddies at college to wake them up for the 7-8am classes. I understand possibly moving the 8am start elementary school a bit, but not much Stay the same!!

Ridiculous to consider middle school starting at 9:45am. Kids need to learn to get up and manage themselves. Completing homework early, go to bed early. In HS and Middle school, if they don't start until late, they will just stay up later. End result is the same amount of sleeping time. BAD CHOICE TO MOVE TIMES LATER THAN 7:45-8:15am for HS and Middle school

Don't move times. High Schoolers have jobs and sports. Leave it alone or move by just 15-30minutes if necessary. 9:45am start for middle school? Dumb! They are up earlier than that anyway. Working parents, sports WILL be affected by all. Isn't a student suppose to be well rounded? School, Sports, self-management? I work night shift and I have to get ready for work at 5:30 pm and if my kids come home later than the time they do now I wont be able to see them at all or spend time with them. I'd only be able to see them weekends but they aren't home most of the time so I don't even know when I'd see them. So the earlier the better honestly I never thought about the cost impact. In a perfect world, it would be a statewide change or a league change so that the cost would be better. When my girls were Elementary, we all waited for them to go to school. They tended to be up earlier, cheery and ready long before start times. As they have gotten older, they are more tired and do better later in the day. A school district change seems expensive, but I'm not sure how to get the discussion going among a larger set of schools. Perhaps a league or state advisory group consisting of district officials, parents and students would be the most helpful.

Are we going to allow at least 30 min for lunches with these changes? 15 min lunches isn't enough time for most kids to even get through the cafeteria line.

I was disappointed that the 1st proposal with 8am start times for the high schools did not included changes for the elementary schools to start earlier in an effort to cut costs. If not for the cost #1 would be my 1st choice. The HS still get out early enough for sports and jobs etc. but allow for more sleep in the morning.

Cost and interruption to family schedule is the biggest deciding factor for our home. Would it be possible to swap the start times between elementary and high school? In our house our child has been up for at least 3 hours before they even get on the bus. Proposal C is awful - middle school is a crucial time for students to get into after school activities, running school so late would greatly reduce students abilities to participate in after school music, sports and academic clubs.

How about trying the Start/End times to 8:10am-3:10pm.?

None of these options work. Little kids are up early and should have earlier start times. They need before school care so parents can get to work by 8. Have them start early. High schoolers need to sleep in, let them start late. Start high school at 9 and elementary at 7

I really prefer A, but the cost is astronomical! Is there no way they can be closer together without costing as much? 7:20 is too early for anyone to start school & no one should get out after 4! Thank you Can't see what start times for 9:20 start schools would be on proposal B. Consideration of working parents, homeowner paying higher property taxes & wasting more money to buy new buses? This country is very wasteful; when it comes to reused, reduced & recycles!! Why the changes, if it is not broken????

Is that start time delay for high schools enough? In order to capitalize on existing research on the greatest testing differences for students with later starts, why not start even later?? As long as you're doing it do it right! Like 10:00?

How was it determined that more standarized start and end times for sll grades would be the most expensive proposition? Just no taxes. And also I prefer the early starts so the kids are out the door at the same time we go to work. None The biggest problem for our family is the early high school start time. It's not healthy for older students to start so early. I like our elementsry school start times just fine. Rate it. By simplifying the process. Later start is important for teenagers in terms of academics and studies show better performance due to sleeping in and teenagers are night owls.

DO NOT start Spruce ANY later than it already is

I'd like to see the Elementary students not be in school past 3pm. If that means an earlier start time for them, I support that The early high school start times negatively effected our high school students ability to excel and get the rest he needed as he grew. I am strongly in favor of later high school start times.

Leave start times as they are currently. Your options include needing a lot of money from the community, doing away with middle school sports and young kids in school till 4:00, which aren't great options. My taxes are already increasing, I have kids in middle school who want to participate in sports and I cannot stay home till 9:00 to get them on a bus. Very inconvenient for all parents, grandparents and caretakers. I'd like to suggest looking at implementing two options. Implement option B or C in the interim while bonds for Option A are pursued, voted on and implemented. If turned down, then option B or C would remain in place. In order to prepare our children for future employment they need to learn to wake up early and get to bed early. Later start times dramatically effect valuable time in the afternoon and impact after school sports and extra curricular activities.

With option A is there a scenario where middle school starts at 7:30 to offset the cost?

Current start times are way too early for all grades. Children have trouble sleeping when it's light out, no matter how early you wake them. Then they can't concentrate and have mood issues.

Putting budget issues before the health and education of our high school students is sad. They are our future and we should all remember they come first, and base our decisions accordingly. My son was supposed to take the bus to high school, but the pick-up time was 6:10am. He would have had to be up at 5:30am every day so we decided to make some concessions and drive him every day ourselves. Most adults I know don't get up that early. Changing school start times for teens is common sense and scientifically proven to benefit their education and mental health. It doesn't have to be so difficult to implement. We had to completely rearrange our work schedules to cater to my teen's needs, so if we can do it, so can the school district.

The high school times are the ones that really need to be changed, just because they start so early. I think they should be the main focus if times need to be changed. Thank you!

Is this no other option?? the later the better - give these students' brains the sleep they need!! I would like Scriber Lake H. S. to have the same start and end times. "In a policy statement published in 2014, AAP urged middle and high schools to modify start times as a means to enable students to get adequate sleep and improve their health, safety, academic performance and quality of life". "Among the possible public health interventions for increasing sufficient sleep among adolescents, delaying school start times has the potential for the greatest population impact by changing the environmental context for students in entire school districts." - CDC

Having high schoolers start later them elementary schools is stupid because some people depend on the high school and middle school students to help with younger elementary school kids for after school care!

The most important element is missing from this survey: when are middle and high school teacher contract times relative to school start times? In other words, where is the extra hour where teachers are on contract, but students are not in classes. This is the "tutorial/remedial/extra help time" that low performing students need, and that time needs to be after school, not before school. It's unethical and inequitable to make "extra tutorial time" before school. It seems highly unlikely that at-risk students will come to school early to get help. Just leave it the way it is. Please keep the start times as they are now (status quo)! This plan works and it is what is best for students in athletics, music, after school activities, and students who have jobs. Please do not move elementary start times to earlier.

We need to find a way for the elementary students at the late start school to start significantly earlier. They should all start before 8am I am at a high impacted school. I would love to see earlier start and end times. Our kids are up early enough..it would be nice to have them startwhen they are fresh.

Before we make such a large decision that has such strong financial or personal impacts on our district, families, and staff, I would love for there to be some investigation into how local districts who have made this change feel about the results they are seeing. I understand that there have been studies, but what are teachers really seeing in districts that have made these adjustments and were the changes worth it.

This is not fair to the late start schools. We already get out late enough and trying to make appointments for after school hours is extremely difficult. Plus it is very late in the winter months! Either start us earlier or leave it the same- and why were we not part of the discussion for this. It was my understanding that this was a discussion with the high schools. They should not be the driving force for decisions! The elementary late start schools seem to be getting the short end of all of this. It is not fair and not right. Our opinions matter as well. We should have been brought into the conversations. I am disappointed that I might be having to work much later. Starting at 9:45 is too late. Start the high schools at those times! I do not envy your committee - Best Wishes on coming up with a "change" to the schedule! :) If we're thinking about what's best for student learning, from my own informal observations, over the years I've noticed that when my 1st period classes meet later in the day (for whatever reason - late start, different schedules for testing, etc.), their personalities are very different when they're actually awake. I need to actually collect real data sometime if I have time... but informally, I've noticed that when I've had the same AP class 1st and 6th - my 6th period not only outperforms 1st period grade-wise (there are of course other factors likely in play), but I think my 6th period AP scores might outperform 1st period AP scores for the same class in a given year. I also get much richer discussions in 6th compared to 1st (again, other factors are likely in play - including the fact that it's the 2nd time I've taught the same lesson in the same day).

When I was in high school, 1st period started at 8:30am and last period was dismissed at 3pm.

(The school year at my high school many many years ago (but other parts of the country still have this same schedule) started in mid-August and 2nd semester ended Memorial Day Weekend - so 1st semester finals were before winter break... but that's an entirely new and different can of worms... but again, with that shift in the start date for the school year, it gave us at least 3-4 extra weeks before AP exams... Plus, there's something to be said for winter break actually being a semester break... For students, it was a clean separation between semesters - whereas now, we have a 2 week break and then come back for a couple weeks before 1st semester finals... Plus as teachers, having that time to actually finish all 1st semester paperwork and time to really plan 2nd semester's start would be much nicer, as opposed to the mad bustle to wrap up 1st semester paperwork while simultaneously trying to launch 2nd semester smoothly - especially with semester-long courses and a brand new group of students in those courses... Many argue against starting the year earlier because of "nice weather" and vacation schedules, but shouldn't it be about what's the best schedule and calendar for student learning?) outsource most of the bussing! then schedule to benefit students, not unions! Will they still have day care before and after at the elem? If so, will the cost go up if school starts later or Elem get out ealier?

Transportation must continue to be provided to the students of the 'choice' schools. The K-8 schools NEED to have the same start and end times as the comprehensive middle schools for the purposes of allowing our teachers to participate in professional development with their secondary colleagues. A start time after 9:20 AM is a hardship on staff and families.

The expectation that our high school students should be ready for education at 7:20am each morning is absurd. If Edmonds School District really believes in "each student learning every day", we will adjust start times despite potential cost prohibitive barriers listed for some of the proposals. Proposal B would help our teenage students without being too cost prohibitive or too greatly impacting students at primary schools.

The people reviewing the data from this survey should keep in mind the findings of Wahlstrom's 2002 study (linked on the strategic direction site): "Asking stakeholders in advance whether or not to make the change... will almost certainly lead to their disapproval of the idea.The process of change is unsettling to most people" Nevertheless, the data shows positive effects on overall student learning. Let's make it happen, ESD!

Later start time will just mean high school students will stay up later. Would make it difficult for students and sports, jobs, and clubs. I don't believe we should be making decisions based on athletics. I think it makes the most sense to have elementary schools have the earliest start times. Go for it!!

This came out of nowhere. Teachers have not been considered within this decision at this point. This will effect teachers and paras, especially those who have students in other districts. Changes to the schedule need to be worked through with the processes for decision making as set up in the contract. It was difficult to remember the proposal letters, but I think the change to a 7:45 start would be best. Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback.

I am a parent of a 3rd grader. I am also the Asst Mgr at Lynnwood high school kitchen. It wouldn't let me Mark both boxes. Employee & Parent.

As a staff member, it feels very disrespectful, & not in the spirit of draft 5, that VERY little staff communication took place. This is s HUGE change for staff & is certainly worth discussion, but this process feels wrong.

I teach at a late start school, starting it even later and having the students stay until 4:15 would actually reduce the time I have to work with the students, by 3:30 their attention and learning ability is significantly lessoned. No extremes in start or end times.

I've worked at the high school level for years. We used to start at 7:00, so our current time is better. The kids are there and learning. With so many real issues regarding student learning for our board to tackle, it seems ridiculous to spend time on this one. none of the proposals changes start time enough to really make any difference yet has cost involved. Seattle found that the time shift impact affected the whole community putting elementary and middle school practices late in the evening. Community use of our facilities affects everyone. I also think Seattle has not seen any significant improvement in high school performance.

High schools should have a later start time, but it should not impact elementary schools in a negative way. Having kids in school until after 4:00 is wrong. There are more students at the elementary level who could be impacted than kids at the secondary level. There are times I feel like elementary folks get the short end of the stick because they do not speak up in the same manner that secondary folks do.

This was an awful survey. I am a staff member, a parent, and a community member but I could only pick one. The plans need to be shown side by side, or in a matrix for comparison of start times, costs, etc, not on separate pages, it's too difficult to compare the details.

In terms of start times for high schools, 100% of all data supports later start times because teens stay up late and their brains don't begin to activate until about 9 am. So, the later we start school for high school kids, the more productive they will be. Why not have sports practices in the mornings and classes starting around 9?

I am a parent of high school students in the Seattle district. This has been very successful. My own students have had a lot more energy and grades are better. The only down side that I see is they miss more class because of early dismissal for sports, but that is occasional. Why can't elementary start at 7:20 and high school start at the 9:00sh time slots? Middle school would remain unchanged. Little children are almost always up early. Just ask parents of kindergarteners.

I'm an employee in the district and a parent of an elementary student in the Seattle district. As a working parent, I really like the early start time for elementary (7:55am). I can walk my son to school before going into work myself. I have heard many frustrations from high school parents about the later start time. Although they like allowing their child to sleep later in the morning, if they are involved in athletics, they miss A LOT of class time because they have to leave early for meets/matches/games. Many times they don't have to miss class simply to get to the location on time, they have to leave early because the buses are only available to transport students at certain times. What ever choice is made, I wouldn't want it to cost additional money. I think that it would be unreasonable to make a schedule change that would require over 4 million dollars to by new buses. Tax payer dollars could be better spent. Please, strongly consider plan B! Thanks for your work on this critical topic. I would like the first proposal a lot more if weren't going to take over 4 years to implement. Let's do this!

In proposals B and C the start/end times are really late in the morning/afternoon, which is what I don't like about them. Teachers would have to have more substitutes for things like medical appointments, that they might not need now because they have time after school lets out. As a middle school teacher who also coaches at the high school level, changing middle school start times to 9:45 would make it nearly impossible to continue both jobs. If this option was chosen, I would be looking for employment in other districts. If other districts were to change their start times this would change my answers, especially for proposal C. I would prefer to not have elementary school times start sooner. I would prefer the elementary times start later if needed so that high school start times can also start later.

Later start time for HS. As a parent and teacher, we NEED to start HS later. This is research backed. Athletics should NOT dictate the schedule. Our school start and end time at Beverly Elem. Sch. is perfect for kids and staff. Please don't change it. Ingrid Mager Do not move late start schools any later. Not conducive for kids learning!!!! High school students need to get used to real life. They won't get special accommodations in the real world. The evidence that high schoolers need to sleep later for improved performance is sketchy, and not at all indicative that substantial changes need to be made. Many staffs have presently had to change their work hours to accommodate the need to have a collaborative hour; the middle-start elementaries have been NEGATIVELY affected by this feature alone, since meeting before school is very early indeed and meeting after school is very late. So until this "collaborative hour" feature undergoes the next round of collective bargaining, this entire start-time decision needs to be put on ice. And please don't kid yourselves that elementary students would be rarin' to go at 7:40; they will be just as bleary-eyed as high schoolers are now at that time, and there will be a HUGE increased need for after- school care!

By changing elementary start times, you are effecting students opportunities to participate in after school activities/ groups / clubs. Many of my students participate in Taekwondo after school down the street and the classes start at 3:30pm. You don't provide links that support, or refute the time/cost data you have published. This survey feels biased.

The use of additional funds to make this change should be carefully weighed with the current atmosphere of the State's inability to satisfactorially fund public education. Programs such as special education, para educators, classroom sizes, facilities renewal and maintenance, and establishing the competative compensation for our professional certified staff should be made a high priority.

High School start times are ridiculously early and need to be changed. From the proposals, the most logical switch is simply to push the start time to 7:45. If makes no sense, to try to push the start time back an extra 15 minutes beyond that, at the cost of over $5 million and having to wait 5 years to implement it. Just go to 7:45 and call it good. Since every study done has shown benefits for later start times for hs this should have been done a long time ago

I would prefer an earlier start time for our school. However, I do not think it is worth thousands to millions of dollars to change start times. Those funds would be better spent on reducing class size, raising pay, ensuring the protection of support programs (Title I, ELL, etc.), purchasing new curriculum, etc.

I think there is a large impact on elementary school children missing class time when school goes past 3:30. Maybe this is not as important as when children are in Middle and High school, but still something that should be considered. I would like to see more options. Schools starting at 9:45 is not what's best for kids. Please do not choose A because the money could be spent in many more productive ways. In proposal B, the late start and end times for the 9:20 schools (to start at 9:45 and end at 4:15) are too late in the day for elementary kids.

I think the elementary schools need to start earlier that the secondary. Many little kids are naturally up early so later starts would make for a really long day. The little ones start to fade around about 1:00 and having to stay at school past 3:00 would have a big impact on the learning the happens in the afternoon. Also many lesson, sports practices, and other activities are usually scheduled starting around 3:30-4:00 for Elementary aged students.

If the surrounding districts eventually all change their start times then the decision to change ours becomes clear, regardless of cost. Proposal A best supports the research. Let's do what's best for our students.

Thank you for including employees of the District Why didn't the district present these proposal through the draft 5 process? The level of trust between the ESC and the rest of the employees is at an all time low, based on my 17 years of working here.

Area traffic should be a consideration also. Earlier start times affect rush hour.

I can only speak for HS perspective. I don't know how this would impact other levels. I love option C, but couldn't imagine not starting school until 9:45 at MS level. i'm curious if staff or each building would have the jurisdiction to decide before/after school tutorial time (i.e. staff contracted meetings or PLC work and advisory etc). I am an elementary teacher and have taught primary grades, K-2, for 17 years. My primary students ALWAYS do better with their learning in the AM time. The PM time is squirmy, less focus, more discipline, etc.... Pushing any of the elementary students later into the PM is a BAD idea. Due to increased elementary student learning in the AM, I advocate that elementary schools should start at the same time as they are currently or earlier. Later in the day start times are a recipe for behavioral issues for the little ones! What other options were considered and why were they rejected? What about Option B, but flip MS and HS with HS starting at 8:25? What about D with MS & HS flipped? It would be good to know more of the thinking behind these 4 choices that are being offered. There is no longer a "Lynnwood Intermediate." They changed to LW Elementary about 10 years back when the boundaries between them and Spruce were adjusted.

Do not make any Elementary school start that late. We are already a late start school and we have to take way too much sick time just to attend and get doctors appointments and to make it to our own children's after school events. Leave things the way they are and CONSIDER YOUR TEACHERS FIRST! This highly impacts many teachers and students personal lives.

I did not pick any order of these 4 choices but I DO NOT Like any of them!

Be more clear and transparent with staff about these "potential" changes. It has just been another thing jam-packed in teacher's lives and adds even more stress to our ability to have work and personal life balance.

TAKE CARE OF TEACHERS, SO WE CAN TAKE CARE OF OUR STUDENTS - FIRST!

Survey needs the proposed times on ranking page. Add a few more school days so we don't have to have kids at school after 3:45PM. School start times starting at 7:45AM. Have longer winter break and shorter summer break. Then there is less chance of snow days and dark mornings aren't as big of an issue (and some evenings).

I do not like the 9:45am start time 4:15pm end time. Middle School and High School should start latest; elementary earliest. Thank you.

I already work at the latest starting building and I, and I know most of our staff, would NOT want to have school start later. I don't know enough about the sports at the middle and high schools to really make comments about it, but I don't think the later time with middle schools and them leaving the competitive field is best for them either. I also believe that school should be the most important. Students shouldn't be missing school on a regular basis to attend sporting events. That should be a rare occurrence. High school start times definitely need to be pushed out to a later start time--just 7:45am or 8:00am would make a world of difference! When it is dark outside, students struggle to wake up and get to school on-time the way the schedule currently is. Students start to wake up when there is natural light! I worry as high school students drive to school and are not always able to see other students in crosswalks, etc. Cultivate dedication in our students by catering to their needs. They are required to be there, let's take a progressive step forward and make schools truly student- friendly. Science supports it, other school districts and states have found great success, now it is time for Edmonds to get with it.

Basing the start-time options on athletics schedules indicates where a school district's priorities lay. There are many students who do not participate in these programs and ALL students are impacted by start times. Middle school athletics should NOT be a deal-breaker in any decision making.

For middle and high school students, consider incorporating pre-existing public transportation through Community Transit and ORCA card programs. Navigating public transportation is an important skill for our students to develop and is the future of the greater Seattle metropolitan area. To ensure equitable access for all students, research should be directed into "walk-zones" for public bus stops, and then providing school bus transportation to areas where that are less accessible.

Buying more buses is a short-sighted vision for our district! Tax payers have recently passed a levy for improving Community Transit's infrastructure and it is redundant to request from the tax payers an additional levy for additional buses when a successful system is already in place. Community Transit offers more eco- friendly buses with FUNCTIONING security cameras and a wide array of bus routes and times. We as a district are not responsible for staffing these buses (which is a recognized issue state-wide), and Community Transit bus drives are screened, trained, and held accountable. Our legal issues this year with a bus driver involved in an underage sex bust should come to mind--When we are desperately seeking school bus drivers, we cannot afford to be picky. The district has more important things to fund than a change in schedule, and should put any available funds towards smaller class sizes, support services and curriculum. Missing class time in middle school has large negative impacts. I know there is a cost to changing but it is what's best for students. 7:20 is too early for my high school students. I teach at Sherwood and my children attend MWD. I would strongly prefer that their start times remain the same.

This is not fair to late start schools! We have a hard enough time getting to PD, the district office etc... Getting out later is not fair! When were we going to be included in the conversation! I do not want to get out any later than we already do to accommodate the high school. We should be getting out earlier if they want to start later. I am not going until 4:15 each day! So unfair to the late start schools.

Due to the possible budget changes from the 28% levy taxes ending in June 2017 and reverting back to 24%, I would rather have the remaining money used for FTE to reduce class size. I feel there should be consideration for the district wide school to start earlier than other elementary schools. Pushing them back, in addition to the longer bus rides that the kids have mean students arriving home at 5:00 pm or later. It would be wonderful to have the district wide schools start BEFORE the other elementary schools because of this. You did not include the negative affect on bus drivers to some of these plans. It is already heard to keep good people because of the wages. If you cut hours, many will leave for other jobs that need CDL qualified drivers. With the potential levy cliff and McCleary still unfunded, how will you fund the additional costs without adversely affecting students?

9:45 start times are way too late for elementary (prob. middle school as well). I have worked as a general education teacher at Hazelwood Elementary since 1991. My first two years were at Madrona Elementary where we had a late start due to transportation. Since that time we have continued to have a late start time. I have very strong feelings about choice B as it would create enormous challenges for our school community. Our students would not begin until 9:40 and our day would end at 4:15. I believe that our families and staff would have enormous challenges with such a late start time. I STRONGLY oppose it. I would prefer choice C or if necessary, to have the same start time. Please take into consideration the enormous impact on ALL of our schools.

Have the high-schoolers ride public transportation, like they used to do. It would be better for our environment, a great life skill to teach them, and would reduce the number of new school buses that you all think that we need to buy.

Many district employees commute from outside neighborhoods like Bothell, Everett, and Ballard. I have witnessed colleagues leave our school due to the "Seattle commute" to get here by 7:40. It would be so helpful to have a later start time. The students are very local, many of them even walk. I do not know all the data on this, so I'm not sure if they would be negatively impacted, but they "seem" to located nearby and that it would not harm them. The proposal that would cost $4 million seems unnecessarily excessive. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input.

K-8 schools need to be on the same schedule as the middle schools. It is important for middle school teachers to be able to work with colleagues across the district.

Start times will not impact eLearning in many ways but I hope the district can find a cost effective solution. Spending millions to change start times seems wasteful and a poor allocation of resources.

As a third-grade teacher, my primary concern is that we NOT move any elementary school start times later than they already are (as suggested in Proposal B). Unlike high school students, younger students tend to naturally wake up earlier. I have many parents that say their young students are up for several hours before our late-start school begins. And by mid-afternoon, these kids are getting tired, they have a more difficult time staying focused, and they are not able to learn as effectively. Moving the start/end times later, would only make these problems worse. Just as early start times are not ideal for high school students, late start times are not ideal for primary students. I am also concerned about the challenges such a late start would present for families who many struggle to provide childcare for children before school if elementary schools are starting later than many parents need to be at work.

I need to have a second job to make ends meet. The late start will greatly impact that. It is highly likely that I would have to give one of these jobs up, which financially I cannot do. The later start times appear that I would also lose some hours. In my honest opinion, I do not believe that a late start for high schoolers will make any difference at all, they will just stay up later.

As a middle school coach this would kill all our programs.

I think it is great that you are thinking about our students but realistically, if a student knows that they don't have to get up as early for school...they just stay up later. Changing the school times does not imply to the student to go to bed early. I think that changing the times and making it later will impact our district more (cost of the new buses, extra staff/coaches, student athlete's missing classes, families that have older students pick up from schools in the afternoon, families that have to be to work at a certain time). Let's spend the money directly on our students whom would benefit more!!! Also...we need to be getting our high school students ready for the real world!!!! The real world doesn't change your work time so you can get more sleep :) Thanks for listening!!! I would like to change high school start times, and just changing it by 25 minutes doesn't seem worth the hassle to me. I like the start times in Proposal A, but not the cost or the time to implementation. I prefer B or C because they can be implemented sooner at lower cost. Staying with a 7:20 high school start time as in Proposal D does not accomplish any relief for high school students, and they desperately need it.

What about flip-flopping High School and Elementary start times? I think the later start times will adversely affect families. High school students need a late start as research has proven. Elementary times need to be earlier, so why not make high school even later? These changes are playing it safe.

Please consider the impact on Elementary start times when trying to find a solution to Secondary and do not push Elementary start times too late. That causes a hardship for many working parents as they need before and after school childcare, rather than adjusting their schedule to only need childcare on one side of the day. This is especially true at our Title schools where childcare is a problem and students are dropped off very early before the school day begins, on the parents' way to work (many of our students are dropped off over an hour before school begins). We have adjusted and accommodated many students by offering MOVE 360, but previously it was a problem.

Also, schools with very late start times are at a disadvantage when it comes to staff trying to take only a 1/2 day for appointments, or even making a late afternoon appointment and not having to take sick leave at all. At many early start schools, staff is able to take only a 1/2 day for appointments or plan to take late afternoon appointments and not miss any time off work at all. Staff at late start schools often times need to take a full day because their day goes too late in the afternoon to attend an after hour appointment, or their 1/2 day hours do not fall around the noon hour. Thanks!

I do not support any proposal that eliminates kids sports programs.

This will impact the student population that we are trying to target. This could backfire and students may be more likely to stay up late if they aren't supposed to get up early. We need more para support, fewer class sizes, and more room for electives for students. We do not need to change the start time. Put the money in the classroom.

The change in HS start times needs to be significant. #4 has NO CHANGE! #2 is only 25 minutes and #1 is only 40 minutes. And why make MS so late on #3 compared to HS? 9:45 vs. 8:25. High school is the biggest problem regarding start times. I've said for many years - you want to improve EVERYTHING about school? Change the start time. But it needs to be a real change! A few minutes is only paying lip service to the idea. But back to the MS issue...they will never go for a 9:45 start. As a HS teacher I would. Especially as someone who has a zero period.

Additionally, I value athletics, but athletics should not dictate WHEN the academics and the arts happen. They are an added "Extra Curricular" activity. They have importance, but not that much importance. They cannot be allowed to dictate when kids go to school.

Proposal A is way too expensive. Elementary children should not have to wake up earlier than the high school students.This is why I disagree with Proposal C.

Please keep in mind late start schools. We already have issues with parents needing to find expensive daycare options and some parents even dropping students off too early. As a teacher, moving our start time to 9:45 would cause massive problem for me. I would be unable to attend many after school trainings. I would also have a hard time getting to my second job on time, as I need a second job to pay my bills. The impact on kids would also be massive. Starting that late would mean even more kids would have no childcare in the morning before school. Our staff would be faced with even more challenge as we would need to find supervision for those kids after school. Many students also have non-school related afternoon activities and this change would cause a big negative impact on those students. A change needs to happen soon, not in 3-4 years.

So, if you leave your school job early to go coach, you are getting paid to do both at the same time, and the district has to get substitutes to cover their absences while the teachers are still getting paid to work until the end of their shift? What a waste of district money! If all of us could get extra pay for doing this, the schools would really be in trouble. Let's figure out how to fix this. Now the start times. Why would you want to have the elementary schools get out so late, that in the winter they are going home IN THE DARK?

I would like to ask if it would ever be considered to change start times for elementary rather than always having some schools early and others late. It is frustrating to always need to take leave for appointments while others can schedule appointments after their school lets out.

I'm a little concerned that the way this process has been facilitated has positioned us not entirely open to the possibility of doing something new. Granted, the proposals do represent some new thinking. However, some of the communication has been overly focused on the limitations of the various proposals (in both tone and content). Other communication has highlighted the follies of other districts that have tried to do something new rather than the successes they are seeing.

It is clear that something must be done to address the ridiculously early start times for our high school students. I would like to hear a stronger leadership voice in this conversation. Once it became clear, in early engagements with the community, that, understandably, most individuals were going to vote with their interests and contexts in mind, I would have preferred our leaders (superintendent, assistant superintendents, School Board) to leverage their influence to better shape individuals' decision to keep all students and our longer-term system goals in mind. I worry about more "early dismissals" for students if the school day is made later for elementary. Being a late start school, we already are impacted by students being pulled out by parents at the end of the day. This shortens the time students are in school and learning.

It's important to include all schools/programs when completing a survey like this. Option B is way too late for schools to be letting out at 4:15 PM. I realize that there are many moving parts and we are trying to move things around to help the secondary schools, but ending as late as 4:15 PM will be highly detrimental to students' family lives and extra curricular activities. I think it would result in a spike in early releases at those schools, which would lead to more disruptions and less meaningful learning time.

My preference would be to move the K-8 schools release time to earlier (3:35 PM) or, at the very least, keep it the same (3:50 PM)

I do not think we need to add or ask the public for millions of dollars could use else where Late start elementary school staff continue to bear a heavy financial burden when trying to schedule doctor appointments, etc. We HAVE to use our sick time, no other schools suffer this. We need to have some consideration with these new choices. How much more are WE going to be impacted. Staff are not all being treated EQUAL. Originally early/late start schools rotated to ensure equity. Then this was discontinued and we were "frozen". Maybe it's time to unfreeze again.

Has it not been brought up to just switch the start times of the elementary schools with the high schools? Younger students are up earlier and parents have to get to work so would not need morning daycare. Be easier to take them to school. A good start time for the high schools is 7:45 am with a release time of 2:15 pm. Why spend more tax payer money on buses? Use our resources wisely. I'm sure we are looking at the impact (positive and negative) that this switch has had in other Districts.

I believe elementary should start earlier than upper grades because younger students are able to wake up earlier, and older students are most awake at night and least awake early in the morning. I believe it is very much in the best interest of students to have high school start later than elementary school. I strongly believe that a 4:15 pm dismissal time for elementary schools is too late for elementary students. So many of them ride buses and could potentially not even arrive home until 4:45-5 pm. In the winter that means they arrive home in the dark. Children need time to be children and arriving home that late does not give them enough time in the evening to decompress from their day, spend time with family and work on homework.

All research shows that high school students need more sleep and should start later. ALL RESEARCH! Very few things in education have such concurrent research. Starting at 7:45 isn't worth the effort to change it. If we are going to change it to better support our students, then we should start high school after 8 am.

Years and years ago, we were told that elementary start times would change to give other schools a chance to be at an early or late start school. Lynnwood Elementary has been late start for many years. There never were changes. I think all of us here would like a chance to start earlier in the day.

We don't have enough money in our district to provide basic needs for our classrooms and teachers. There should not be money poured into a start time change. This is almost insulting that we are even proposing to spend this amount of district money to change bus schedules, in addition to the negative impact on school sports, which can be critically motivating for some students. Only plan A

As the day starts to move into early afternoon, elementary students are exhausted and therefore their learning rate does decrease. I can't imagine them at their peak learning later than about 3:00. I would be interested to know what the late start schools think about this issue.

The data that has been bandied about regarding brain development is shoddy, and most studies are based upon self-reporting. In conversations with students they OVERWHELMINGLY agree that if school starts 1 hour later they will stay up 1 hour later, if school starts 30 minutes later they will stay up 30 minutes later. You are basing this entire decision upon the selfishness of teenagers.

Your information on the proposals is also insufficient. While you have some information on the impacts fiscally, you are ignoring the impact it will have on the working members of our families, and our students who may need to work to support their families.

Please don't attempt to implement this, start time changes are wrecking havoc on Seattle, don't negatively impact our students and families as well. I am both a parent and teacher (Alderwood Middle School) in the ESD. My answers reflect both the teacher and parent points of view.

Option of adding sports as a class period/ CTE if end times go past 2:30 Schools getting out at 4:15 would be dismissed when it's getting dark out in the winter. That seems unsafe.

High school kids need to sleep later!!

I do not think that changing the start times by less than an hour will make that much of a difference in student performance, not worth the money being invested. We should invest that money in smaller class sizes, this would have a larger impact on student learning. I do not want high school to get out at 2:55 causing many athletes to miss more class. An extended contract day would also interfere with my child-care arrangements. The time I spend at home with my own children is important to me and I do not want to miss more time than I already do. Changing my child-care does not solve this problem.

I am wondering about the % of students who participate in the sports mentioned in the various plans. I dislike the idea of middle school students being removed from an entire organization. In terms of high school, listing the sports gives an idea of impact, but the actual % of the student body that would be impacted in the different proposals might bring more clarity. Also, on the topic of sports, the lateness of games and meets has also been a contributing factor in the fatigue of students who often don't return home and start homework until after 9pm.

K-8 Schools are deeply impacted by this change. Please keep in mind that teachers would have an 8-5 work day when everything is said and done.

-Has the data from Seattle School District's switch to later start times indicated that it is helping the at risk students (who I assume this change is intended to support) pass more classes? -If the data isn't out yet, would it be wise to wait and learn from their data before paying for a costly switch? - Given the costs of some of these changes, what cuts would that call for in other areas throughout the budget? What evidence is there to suggest that this strategy is more effective at supporting at-risk students than other interventions? There are a number of work-load issues that I as a teacher would like to see addressed to support students in more effective ways. How can we ensure we are getting the most "bang for our buck" in terms of supporting students by implementing these changes?

I would like to see Lynnwood Elementary start at 8:30 - it would give staff members the chance to have after school doctor appointments for a change, instead of having to use sick leave. Other early start schools do not have this as an issue. Equity?

Primary school students do better in the morning. The longer day would put a strain on their ability to stay engaged for a longer day, as most are up early. when my kids were in high school, the earlier start/end time enabled them to do more activities-sports, music, etc and work. It gave them homework time in the afternoon and evenings. It also prepared them by instilling the habit of getting up earlier for their college life and schedules.

I do like an earlier start time for the younger students, but don't like athletes having to miss too much class.

Scientific evidence shows that later start times is ideal for improved education. Many studies have shown this, see "https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/school-starts-too-early/" it is very important to base education decissions on evidence based sceince.

As a staff member a change in start times will effect me. I support which proposal is truly best for students and their learning. High school students should not be expected to wake up as early as we ask them to right now. They are not meant to, biologically speaking. We have known this for a long time. Things need to change, for the sake of their education and their health.

I'm glad you're looking into this!

Please keep the time as it is right now, as it will conflict with other activities otside the school if changed. I do not want any change, works just fine as it is. Thanks.

Your option A seems most logical... my children have been in your Meadowdale school system sense 2001. I have been waiting s long time for this to happen

From a high school students perspective: If you want to start school at 8 a.m and have us end at 2:30 p.m. We have work, that's a good maybe four hours, and then on top of all our homework for school and maybe sports. Starting us later is not going to let us get more sleep! It's just going to push us back later and later! Keeping us up later and most likely even more tired! We may not like the fact we start so early but in the end we realize it actually works out. Thanks

I'm a full/part-time Running Start student at Meadowdale High School and I volunteer at Alderwood Middle School. I feel like the schedules are very restrictive for kids who do part-time RS as well as kids who decide to do clubs or athletics, as they won't change the time for classes at community colleges due to this change and the kids in clubs and athletics must return home at a later time, allowing less time for school work and other responsibilities they might have. Pushing the high school start time to 7:45 will help kids get more sleep and have less of an impact on everyone. This still allows kids in Running Start to get to their 2:50 PM classes and the athletes still have time to get home to change for their sport. It's a more knit schedule, but I feel like it's the best one. Some proposals had very awkward times, like proposal C, where the middle school ended absurdly late. This puts a strain on families with children going to multiple schools, but is nice for traffic.

Current schedule for high schoolers is really not healthy! Thanks for the change!

These have got to be the worst ideas and suggestions ever. Why are we wasting our time, effort, and money changing school times? In one example you have middle school getting out at 4:15 and they won't be able to play sports against other out of district schools!!!! That is ridiculous! 4:15, seriously???? In 1 example you have high school starting at 8:30!!! What about all the sports kids play, kids will be missing school all the time to attend games. Sports are and will always be an important part of kids life. What about jobs for high schoolers, I don't know if you know but some kids need to work to go to college. What about volunteer time for high schoolers for college? If your argument is having kids get more sleep, then wake up! I can guarantee you that almost all kids will just stay up later in the night. You hear people complaining about high schoolers being tired? Well tell the parents to make their kids go to bed earlier. You need to hold parents responsible to take care of their kids, as in getting a good sleep. The time to stop coddling our parents and kids of the generation of snowflakes, generation Y's, and everybody gets a participation ribbon needs to stop. PLan A? What a WASTE OF MONEY. PLan C you have elementary schools starting before high schoolers? You are telling me your going to get up little kids before high schoolers? I don't know why these options are being brought up. I often wonder about the smarts of our school district. You already are wasting our kids and teachers time with all these district tests you are making them do, don't screw it up more by switching school times. LEAVE IT AS IT IS. And you wonder why Trump picked the secretary of education from a charter school, because of ideas like this. High school students would much rather sleep late and wake up late, compared to the younger children who like to sleep early and wake up early. It only makes sense to flip the schedules.

Very against school getting out past 310. The kids would have no time after school to play outside plus it would cut into family time at night. My child does fine with earlier start times. In the winter it would be getting dark when they get out of school plus it would cut into after school sports as well. I think it's so wrong to even concider a 4:00 end time.

Getting out earlier in the day is better for high schoolers to be able to do clubs and sports, as well as doing homework.

Please do not change the arrival time to only be 25 min later , it is a waste of money and pointless, I speak for all of us

Please just keep it the same. If time start is later, there will be less time for homework, it will be harder.

I believe that Middle School should start at 9:30 and end at 3:30. Elementary should start at 7:30 and end at 2:30. High schools should start at 9:00 and end at 2:30 High schoolers need to start later. You will see improved test scores, attendance, and behavior. Proposal C is the best though I think it would be better to switch the high school and middle school times of proposal C. So high school would start at 9:45 and middle school would start at 8:25.

There are better ways you can spend 4 million dollars than to rearrange a schedule: printer paper, clean and maintained facilities, lunches with enough food for a growing person, and arts programs for the youngest ones, who miss out on the chance to experience something that will change their lives, who grow up never having given it a chance because someone on top thought cutting the program was a good way to save a penny. My elementary school brightened my eyes, but now there is no science fair, no wax museum, no 6th grade camp, no visiting a farm, and no exciting rides at the annual carnival. I hear chatter of cutting extracurricular music programs too. So, if you can get 4 million dollars, put it towards something that puts a spark in a child's eyes. Watch, they'll teach themselves if you give them something to love.

For people who take city transit it's extremely hard to come to school ready to learn when you wake up at four and ride buses for an hour and a half

School start times would be beneficial mostly for high school students and parents if the time is pushed back a bit to some time near 7:45 or 8. The whole thing of high school students ending at 2:55 would hurt those in after school activities and need time to complete homework and have asb activities for example. Knowing that an Individual's brain doesn't fully start until 10 a.m in the day, that means that they will work better and get better grades. Also, most students (especially high school students and some middle school students) have to study and do homework up until the late hours of the night, making the school environment stressful and anxious. No students should start school between 8am, based on children's biological clock. High school starts at 8:05 Gets out at 1:50

-45 minutes of Achievement time (or advisory for schools other than MHS) after school for select students (by grade mark in classes) -Clubs last 45 minutes

Combine these busses

Sports go just as late, same amount to do homework

Wake up 40 minutes later, go to sleep at the same time

Middle school 7:45-2:15 Elementary school unchanged

One thing is for sure: High School start times need to be pushed back. This is the most stress filled time of a teenage student's life, and sleep deprivation only adds to that. When I was in elementary and middle school (in this district) the start times did not impact my sleep too much. In high school, I had to choose between getting a few hours of sleep or sleeping in / missing class.

I don't really like getting up at 5:30 for school, but I would rather get up that early than get out of school around 2:30-3:00. Don't start high school too late. It will effect our afterschool clubs, athletics and our jobs. As a student, I would greatly appreciate a later start for school. I believe it will improve my academic performance and overall well-being. Thank you for creating this survey. when school starts earlier students are more capable of getting a job after school and also getting homework done please make high school start times later it will improve our performance and attention span

7:20am is an atrocious time to start school. People in higher positions throughout the district don't understand how hard it is for us teenagers to try and stuff information into our half-asleep brains that early in the morning. For the well-being of students throughout our district, please implement later start times.

High schoolers need more sleep. It's more tiring starting classes in the pitch black during winter time than any other time. This NEEDS to change. For half days, let us sleep in those extra hours and let us start in the middle of the day instead!!!! when school starts earlier students are more capable of getting a job after school and also getting homework done Later morning preferably. Not too late however; 8:30 latest... As of now the start time is too early. I think this is a very important change that needs to happen to benefit the health and well being of the students. As myself being a senior, it will not effect me but after studying the importance of sleep in psychology I have learned that we need more sleep. That students should not have to be getting up from five to six AM in the morning just to get to school. Also we need to teach students that sleep is an important necessity that we are teaching the youth to abuse, and it is not okay. This is an important topic to me because I have suffered from emotional breakdowns due to my levels of stress being high and my amount of sleep being low. I do not want this to be a common occurrence in the students that graduate after the class of 2017.

The very early starts are difficult for students and their families. Our students start elementary school at 8 am and it is way too early. Our high school student's school starts at 7:20 am but we have him starting w/ 3rd period due to past illness and getting started again. 7:20 am is difficult start time for most teens. Would love to see later start times in Edmonds SD as they have done in Seattle.

My current student is a Senior, so it won't effect me there. I work for the district and like a little extra time in the mornings to get in and get work done before students arrive. I also like to keep the cost down for changing times. And where would we park an extra 38 buses on our new site! I work in maintenance and we have no room now for all of us!

I feel like the middle/high schoolers stay up later and have to wake up earlier, as the kids in elementary go to bed at a reasonable time and get to wake up around 8:30 really people you are debating such miniscule topics

Many students have other after school activities which would interfere with school times due to them being moved to later times. It would be more convenient to keep the start times early for the students to have the opportunity to attend their after school activities. there are many ups and downs to changing the start time, but I think that it would be important that students be able to get the sleep they need, especially in this age of their life

Keep the times as is, as a high schooler, I will not get any more sleep if we make the start of school later. I say this because school will end later, I will get home later, and therefore will go to bed later because I will start my homework later which will not make the amount of time I sleep any longer.

The reason that I would like a later start is because sometimes because of the amount or type of homework I have I stay up later to finish it and lose sleep because of it, so it would be nice to get more sleep to make up for it. please i need my sleep I already have to come in at 6:20 for TOK anyway, and have work after school. It would ruin my schedule to change anything no

With the current system, I have to wake up at 5:30 AM to have any hopes of making it to school in time for my mandatory 0 period, TOK. I am almost always late because it is extremely hard for me to wake up this early. Please don't let this be a problem for anyone now or in the future, and make the start time as late as possible. There are many factors that affect school times. I am a full international baccalaureate student at EWHS, and there are many after school activities that I am a part of. I strongly disagree with changing school times! First of all would be an increase cost in changing the school timings. Secondly, there is a lot of homework that is assigned which takes significant time to complete after school. Even if I start the homework at 3 when I get home, I don't finish until 12 am. And on a good day I get about 6 hours of sleep. Another half an hour of sleep isn't going to make me do profoundly better in school. Since I am part of the school orchestra there are many after school activities that we have, which means that I won't get home until 4 or 5 pm on a good day. Furthermore, I am in tennis, and after games sometimes the team meets and that doesn't finish until 7 pm. Pushing the time, means pushing the games, which means getting more later, with all of the homework, it means sleeping later, which bring us back to less to no sleep. Finally, there is a 0 period class that I take which perfectly works out with my schedule, because it doesn't interfere with after school activities. Since the class is so early in the morning, my mom drops me off, and if the time changes she won't be able to give me a ride, which means that I will have to take the community bus and bus commute is 45 minutes, which means less sleep, bringing us back to the same thing. What is the purpose of changing the school time, when it is just making the lives of some students more difficult? Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it.

Being a high schooler and having to wake up at 6AM every morning to be at school at 7:20 is a huge struggle. I tend to do bad in my first classes of the day because I am so tired that I can't concentrate. I don't think that elementary students should start school before us because most older siblings have to pick their siblings up from school and that won't be possible if they end school before us. Thank you for taking this into consideration. -Jaelin Rapp no thank you no later then a 2:15 get out time

I think that start times depending on grade should reverse, with elementary and middle schools having the earliest start times and high school's with later start times. Scientifically it makes the most sense. Teenagers tend to sleep better later. They are already staying up late because of this. With the current times they are only losing sleep. I don't understand how all this stuff works, but thank you for taking consideration for school start times. Thank You

I think that if the district was going to push back the high school start time, they should do it to 8:25, because anything much less than an hour later start won't have an affect on the time we have to wake up in order to get to school on time. However, I think that it might be better to leave the schedule the way it is now because for many students that have jobs that they really need, getting out of school later will be more of an inconvenience. do not change the starting time for school it is fine because if u do change it we would get out later then we would like

Many after school activities which are not through a school are already based on school ending times. These activities often start at 3 or 4 and their starting times would not change if the Edmonds School district were to change its high school times because students from Shoreline, Seattle, and Everett School districts also participate in them. This would mean that many Edmonds School district high school students would be forced to have regular early dismissals to continue to participate in their activities. Additionally, I do not think that a later start time would mean that students are more rested. If the start time was an hour later, I believe that most students would reason that they could go to sleep an hour later, meaning that they would get the same amount of sleep. And since the school day would end later too, students would not be able to start their homework until later in the day and especially for those students with extra curricular activities, they would not begin their homework until 7 or 8 at night. Altogether, the later ending time of schools would make students more stressed than the earlier start time which already exists. I strongly like having the afternoon time for sports and homework. I am a morning person. And I do have a bedtime for medical reasons.

I am a student and I don't think it is good for high school to start later. It would make it so that high school students would not learn what the real world is like and be able to sleep in. Students would just stay up later and not get any more sleep. Elementary school should not start that late as like 10:15 they should stay the same. Their parents need to get to work and they can't stay around for that long. Also the money for this change is so not worth it. We won't get anything out of this. The start and ends times should stay the same as they already are. proposal c

This doesn't have to do with school start times, but I think it would be great if we move schedules around. At some private schools, there are block schedules, and I think that they were great. On Mondays, there would be regular, non-block classes, but on the other days the block schedule would alternate. I think that they are a great idea because students are able to focus and prioritize their work. If there is a class where there are time sensitive labs, such as science, it would be easier to finish. It would also give students longer time to take tests, which would improve test grades and relieve some stress.

I am a current high school student and I think that starting later will mess everything up. Right now I have a job, select sports, school sports, and the countless hours of homework that the teacher give me everyday. I barely have enough time in the day for all of those things I am given, I have never gotten done before 11:30 pm and still have more things I need to do. Starting the day later will not help anything because students will go to bed later than we already do and will get the same amount of sleep as they do now. Starting school later will not help anything, it will make us more tired because we will be out later. I and many other students do not appreciate adults thinking this will help, it wont. LEAVE THE STARTING AND ENDING TIMES OF SCHOOL ALONE. If you want to change something to have students go to bed earlier and get more sleep, less homework + less tests = less stress. Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

Please change the school time to 8;00 am to 2;30, us students have been used to that ever since we were in elementary, also we barely get any sleep so this would help us a little bit. Personally I hardly get any sleep so this can help me. Please I hope you guys consider this time. I have work after school and i help my family, by changing the school start time i will not be able to work!! and the current start time is not bad Different school counselors

High school start times at least NEED to be pushed back!!!!!!!!!!please schools need to start later I think that the time for high school should stay at 7:20-1:50. I believe it is most convenient for sports. Especially, for my sake I cheer at Mths and I would not want games to be pushed back and then get home later. if we go to school at 8 or 9 and school ends at 2 would be okay cause more sleep but less school would be great School should start no later than 8:45 Some after school activities would overlap with the late school times. I go to bed at 9pm, get up at 6am everyday and I'm fine. I have a 3.9 GPA with all honors classes and double math classes too. I'm going into middle school next year and my brother is going into high school. We both go to bed at 9pm and get up around 6am and we are okay. I don't think the times need to change. I think some kids are probably just staying up all night on their phones and computers.

Change the school times for the sake of your current and future students lives.

I would like the later start times to start as soon as possible, please.

I'm a highschool student and if you push the start time farther back they will just stay up later!! It's not going to change anything, the kids who don't pay attention will continue to not pay attention. Please don't change the time!!! I can't fall asleep for awhile so I'd just like to have enough sleep if I got sleep at ten

I think that if high schools started around 8:00am, middle schools around 8:15-8:30, and elementary/k-8's around 9:00am, it would be helpful. The elementary students may not need a later start time since they're usually not given much homework, and it's easier for parents to enforce early bed times so they get enough sleep. Middle/high school students have more classes daily, meaning (usually) more homework, and staying up later. They also are physically able to stay up longer, even though they wake up early. I know that I tend to stay up until around 10pm, and wake up at 6am because my middle school starts an hour earlier than my elementary. To get to school on time, I have to be ready by 7:20am to catch the bus. I know that some students wake up later than I do, but have different ways of getting ready in the morning. It would be slightly easier for both me and my family if school started a little later. I'm sure it would be easier as well on other families if schools started a little later and they didn't have to wake up so early.

Elementary schools should be started the earliest and High Schools should be started later. High-schoolers retain much less information in the morning and their learning is significantly impacted, and their natural sleep cycle is thrown off as well.

It would be greatly appreciated if start times for high school students specifically were pushed back 30-45 minutes. Sleep is very important for students to learn and starting at 7:20 is too early for the brain to learn.

Keep the school times the same because after school time is the best for homework and studying and if you have a job then you can attend it after for longer periods of time, and so then you don't need to waste your time after school Studying and homework is best after school not before it because that encourages procrastinating. Also if you have a job you can have a longer period to do it after school.

I think that regarding high school, a 7:45 start would be more reasonable, and then a 2:15 end, my main concern is elementary, my sister goes to Maplewood, and a 3:50 end is just to late. She gets home after the bus at about 4:45 on a good day, and that's just ridiculous. She wakes up at 2:30-7:40, gets on the bus at 8:30, and rides the bus for 30 minutes. School gets out at 3:50, she rides the bus for another 30-40 minutes. She's in school for 6 1/2 hrs, gets home at 4:45. She goes to sleep at 9:30-10 every night. She's spending 61/2 hours in school, 5-ish at home awake. She's spending more time at school than home. I just don't think that's okay for a child's developing mind. If school started at 8, got out at 2:30, that would be better than the alternative. Teenagers work better on a later schedule, children work better on earlier schedules. ESD has it backwards. waking up early causes me to die inside cause i cant think in any classes even if i go to bed at 8, i still cant get enough sleep cause insomnia

I'm probably one of the rare students but the fact that these times could change, it interferes with chances for jobs or volunteering opportunities by being such an awkward block of time. To have the elementary schools further behind the high school works better because then high school students can help out in elementary schools. Late Start for high school students would be nice

I want the earliest start time possible because the more you push it out the later practices are going to have to go Feel free to do what you want, just do it after I leave high school

This wouldn't really effect me at EH K-12 but i know this is something my sidling would love. And i if i were to go back to public school

There is no point in starting school later. You might think you might get more sleep, but most students would stay up later, and they would end up with the same amount of sleep like if they were also on the regular schedule. So that explains why there is no true point in making school later, but the reasoning for keeping school at 7:20 is daylight. We would end up with less daylight if we ended at 2:55, especially if it were during the winter, it would be dark before school sports would finish. Just please don't. The idea of a later start makes no logical sense. Nope we as students need more sleep. Please keep the original schedule. Sleeping in will affect students grades, health, and moods positively

It would greatly benefit high school students active in part-time jobs to get out of school early, as opposed to waking up early. With more time after school, students are more likely to complete their homework and participate in those after school jobs. Additionally, school sports would consequently be pushed further back in the day, if schools were to start later, thus taking up more time after school. After all, after school time is more productive than before school time - no one can seriously get any academic work done in the short amount of time between waking up and going to school. For students involved in the AP or honors programs, assignments can only be done properly if there is more than an hour to digest the work and concepts of that assignment. Despite the argument that teenagers need sleep more than any other age groups, in the adult world, waking up early is not uncommon. Several, highly regarded jobs require early starts. I would name a few, but I assume that whomever is reading this is an adult with a job and knows of many examples of jobs that require early starts during the day. Personally, as a high school student, while I do not enjoy waking up earlier on school mornings than when I would do with an alarm clock, each alarm sounding becomes easier with time.

Simply put, please do not start school any later than what it already is.

Thank you for requesting community input in this important decision. It is appreciated.

(Also, I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes that might have distracted you from my message - I am still in school though, so surely those mistakes will be resolved) Let's start school at 7 so we can get out at 1:30 for high schoolers k-8 should start at same time as middle schools, getting out earlier and starting earlier. As well as high school times should stay the same they are as of now. I don't really mind starting school at 7:20, but slightly later might be okay (for instance, 7:40/7:45), but if that changed, I would have to miss more classes for sporting events. The third one is the best, the last one is terrible students need more sleep It is important to keep the same start times because of after school sports. Please change it asap. Option D is terrible we need change

I firmly believe that elementary school students do not require as much sleep as middle and high school students as they are still in a phase of life where energy is plentiful and growing has yet to set in. Meanwhile, I and many of my peers agree that due to the added stress and amount of work expected of us, those in high school and middle school do require a different start time for a healthy and effective learning experience. we should do half days on wednesdays

HIghschoolers tend to stay up later so shifting the times seems good

I am a student with an intensive course load and am part of a very time-consuming out-of-school sport, and I also manage a club. Some people say that they have so much homework that getting off 1 hour later would greatly hurt their abilities to do homework. I disagree with this. I have, on average, roughly an hour of time at home to do homework at home, and have had very limited trouble doing this because I manage my time well and don't put off multi-day assignments until the last day. For most, if they started to manage their time, they likely would not have much trouble finishing their work with the current schedule or with a later one. The weekend always has a lot of free time to work that people don't often use, as well.

In addition to this, I can also see how my and my classmates' performances earlier in the day are impacted by having to get up as early as we do currently, not just with courses like math. It is very unlikely that teens can be influenced to go to bed earlier, do to either natural or learned habit, but the later start time would insure that they get enough sleep. I believe that teens would not go to bed later than they do if we put the time back because, in my experience, the time we go to bed depends (if you're on a school schedule that prevents you from sleeping excessively late) little on how late we wake up and more on a more natural schedule. I know this would affect some after school activities, but it is worth it to me to be able to start school later in the morning. It is really hard to focus at 7:20 am and have teachers expect you to be learning at your best.

Even though starting late would be nice because students could maybe get more sleep, the time we have right now would be the best. Though we have to wake up early, which we've been doing for a long time, we could go home early at 1:50 and be able to have a free schedule in the afternoon for jobs, sports, and of course homework. Starting at a later time would shift our afternoon schedules a bit and may cause some to not have time for a job, or lost track of their school work because they have so much to do in such a little time. Don't forget us in high school we have college, sports, and jobs.

If proposal B is the proposal used, it would be great if it could be implemented starting next school year. yup Keep everything the same students cannot comprehend schoolwork until later in the day

Why waste money on this bullshit

The later the better. Teenagers do most of their physical development near midnight and it's extremely damaging to force them to go to sleep before then.

My parents rely on me to provide transportation for my younger siblings, therefore changing the school times will not work.

THE FLIPPING SCHOOL DAYS ARE TO LONG, BE LIKE FINLAND AND MAKE THE DAYS FLIPPING SHORTER I think it just shouldn't be messed with because it cost to much money that will be taking away form music and sports and stuff. Plus they dont have enough bus drivers, and the ones they do have will have to change their hours and that can cut into family time.( I say this as a daughter of a bus driver and I already barly see my father and if he gets off work even later because school gets out later I will see him even less.)

As a high school student, I like the 7:45 because I have an early morning class which would start at 6:45 and am busy nearly every day after school. That start time is ideal for anyone who is a member of I.B., jazz, athletics, or any other clubs or organizations, in my opinion.

I cannot miss 5 or 6 period to go to sports. I want to do well in school and play afterschool sports without being behind. I also need to get to club sports. When I get a job next year, I need to be able to work right afterschool. Please consider not changing high school times past 8AM

I don't want to get home after 2:30PM. I like to do my homework and play with my friends. Also play afterschool sports and club. If I don't get out until 4-4:30PM, I cannot do any of that. I like my school starting at 8AM.

High schools start far too early. It is near impossible to get the right amount of sleep with a changing sleep schedule, especially when you have a zero period.

If school starts later my siblings and I won't have time to see our mom before work because she is a single parent who works night shifts so we'd like to see her and spend time with her on weekdays too and not just weekends; and plus we won't have time to go to the gym. Please don't make any changes

I feel like school start times shouldn't change because some people need to get home earlier in the day for work and homework. Also, sports and other extracurricular events have to be considered as well. If you are pushing back school start times just so we can get more sleep, it isn't going to work. You may see lower levels of sleep deprivation in the first few weeks, but a ripple effect will begin sooner or later. Also, you wouldn't be respecting after-school activities such as athletics, theater, clubs, and jobs. Not only will student lives be disrupted, but so will adults. The world won't change their job start times just because one school district is. You will be influencing traffic and family lives because now, students may go home later than their parents/ guardians. Some students ride the bus, and a later start time would mean getting home at a later time due to the later release time. Some are driven to school, and a later start time will be hindering their parents/ guardians from going to work early. Other students walk to school, and students who walk home from school after their after-school activities would be walking in the dark and more dangers will become present. If you want to solve student's lack of sleep, then maybe schools should find a curriculum where there is a minimal amount of homework and actually teach beneficial things to students. For example, instead of tirelessly memorizing equations and theorems in math, students should be taught to apply math to nature and real-life scenarios that connect with a student's goal. There is no point in teaching number theory to someone who wants to be a coroner, but there is value in teaching geometry to someone who wants to be a landscape architect. Some subjects must have homework, and that is understandably unavoidable. Subjects such as history require more time than a single period provides. Also, homework shouldn't be assigned over a break because that is when students try to cure their sleep deprivation and relieve their stress. School workload is the source of sleep deprivation, not school start times.

I love going home early when the sun is still shining! I love going home early and I think proposal is very unrealistic. Because elementary school kids, are not going to wake up at 7 to go to school and middle schoolers starting at 9:45 is way too late. Proposal C is a definite no however, the other three are ok. Proposal A is not preferred but it's ok. Proposal B is the best alternative however Proposal D (the current system) is the best.

Keep it the same, it is convenient and plenty of time for sports, schoolwork and free time. First and second period classes are noticeably quieter due to tired kids compared to the rest of the day. Also the eating schedule is thrown off by eating lunch at 10:30 versus a more reasonable time like 12. That leaves too much time between lunch and dinner.

Students could definitely benefit with the later school start times. If making school start a little later will improve their health, then it should be done. High school students in the Edmonds School District are deprived of sleep. Most of my peers are forced to wake up at 5 AM to catch the bus in the morning and they go to bed at 11 PM (doing homework and extracurricular activities). I am excited to become a Junior so that I will have the opportunity to do Running Start. One of the main reasons why I wish to go into the program is because I would get to potentially choose my own schedule. Kids need sleep and if they don't get the rest that they need they'll fail classes, fall asleep during the day, and will need to overcompensate over the weekends. Today I slept 4 hours after I got home because I only slept 6 hours the last night. The sleep recommendation for teenagers is 12 hours, I got 10, even with my nap. And I was only able to do this because I made sure to do all my homework during classes. I doubt any teenager will ever get the healthy amount of sleep with the current high school start times. Please think of this issue from a student's perspective. We go to school to learn, but we can't do that running on inadequate sleep. Please start school times later as this affects students growth that has been backed up by facts and research from our scientific communities here and across the nation! Leave it how it is already scheduled for school start times. There will be a larger burden on traffic issues in & around school zones if it is changed, not to mention the issues with parents who have to change/adjust there work schedule. Sleeping in an additional 20 minutes in the morning will be no benefit if said students stay up 20 minutes later the previous evening. This is another knee jerk reaction to please a select few to effect the majority. Keep the school times the same as they are right now please. It is easier and they way it has always been. If you change the school times, like for example middle school ends around 4, I'll get home around 4:30 p.m and I'll have less time to do my homework. Please reconsider, thank you :) Give us the later start time. Everyone will do much better. Teenagers need sleep and should have the latest start times I want to sleeeeeeeeep They way it is now is perfectly fine i believe personally that it is better for our students health to get good sleep. It helps mentally and improves students grades. what would happen to after school sports well if we start spending loads of money on buses and sports, then how are we supposed to pay for more necessary thing such as tech and other basic needs for schools,

I would like to keep start times the way they are because I like getting out of school earlier in the day. I would like to sleep in a bit more then I usually do, and not have to get up super early for buses. Yet I would like a lot of time after school for homework, and maybe in a year have enough time to work too without it getting in the way of school.

Change them

I'm happy with any of these options except for proposal A because of its cost. research proven that students learn better after 8:00.

Many students have afternoon activities to do and most of these times would make it harder for parents. Please stick to the same schedule

Maintain current start times

Maintain current start times i want to sleep more starting at 8 I'm not a morning person and am not fully awake until around the current 2nd - 3rd period times, meaning for 1st - 2nd period, my education is suffering more than my later periods. While I do dislike having to wake up so early to go to school, I love that we get out so early. I personally don't want school to start any later than 8, and even that's a bit too far. Thank you for putting our wants into consideration. :) We have club sports after school

Students have sports after school and other things to do. So we dont want school to end too late.

We should have a nap period. It is best for Elementary to start before middle, which should start before high school. It's better for the older kids to get more sleep.

4:15 is simply too late for our youngest elementary students to be in class. It is wasted time. It would be ideal for staff at late start schools to end earlier than we do now as it is impossible to get to dental or medical appointments and we have to take time off unlike our colleagues in early start schools.

I didn't care for any of the choices. C was close, but the middle school start/end time is too late. B is an improvement WRT student sleep requirements, but only a small one. Without more data on proven effectiveness of delayed start times, difficult to justify cost of A when district has other competing financial needs.

The current 9:20 start times for elementary schools are awful. Most young kids are already up for several hours by the time school starts, it is an inconvenience for parents who have normal business hours, and it precludes anytime of after school activities prior to homework, dinner, and getting ready for bed. Consider earlier start times for all elementary schools, please! It's stupid, keep it the same.

Thanks

High: 7:45 Middle: 8:45 Elem.: 8:45

The earlier start is good because we get out of school early and we have a chance to get to enjoy outside of school activities and sports. Also there is nothing to do in the morning. And honestly no one is going to go to bed earlier because they know they can get up later, so sleep amount isn't going to change Studies are showing early HS start times are not serving teen students well. All schools could start a bit later. 9am or thereabouts seems much more reasonable, allows kids more early morning sleep, and leaves less time for kids to get into trouble after school!! As a student I would like very much for middle school times to remain unchanged, as most peers I know already wake up early and the early dismissal time makes it easier to complete homework and do extracurricular activities, like track and field. Of the choices given, I much prefer option D. But I live almost a half hour's drive from my current school, which brings to mind that you will need to make sure to make school buses accessible and hope fully at reasonable times.

Some students have after school activities that would interfere with late dismissal times. Please, rethink your assumptions. This whole exercise is predicated on the notion that the taxpayers must provide transportation for students and that to be efficient we need to carefully time the use of buses so we need less vehicles and drivers. This is a top down outdated solution and it is not our only option. The majority of children don't use district buses. I live within a mile of my children's school, (walking it's .75 miles with no sidewalks, mud, steep slopes, poor sight distance and speeding cars). We are not offered bus service. Almost our entire neighborhood is within that distance of the school. So you are busing people from outside our neighborhood in to our neighborhood school, using our money, and leaving us pollution, with no benefit. We have not heard the district offer any funds to build sidewalks in our neighborhood leading to the school. We have not seen any safety improvements made by the district in our area. We do have to pay our taxes to you every year and we do inhale the awful exhaust that your buses produce as they all pass by our home. Why don't you pick a logical time for everyone to start the day and end it, and then let transportation be an individual concern? Why are you spending millions to assist only some of your students in getting to school? That is discriminatory. Please, provide a ride-share voucher or a transit pass to students to find their own solution. If you absolutely have to waste our education dollars on buses, then please buy electric so at least you can stop wasting money on gasoline. The assumption that you need to provide transportation is causing you to set times that do not work well with the natural biological rhythms of human life. Your primary obligation is to help students learn, not to run a bus service. Odd start and end times are detrimental to education and harmful to family life. Please consider that and change your assumptions. Thank you. Current start is too early

It would be great if elementary school will organize more after school activities on premises of school itself - like Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, Soccer, Volleyball

Having a later start would be more beneficial to the students.

I want Middle and High Schools to start at 8:30 and end around 2:45. Thank you. kids need to sleep, especially teens. High school needs later start time. All schools should be 8:00 am or later for elementary. I would be interested in seeing new options and revisiting over time. Maybe a staggered start to fit families? It's different as my children enter diff schools. Darn, sure wish an easy option to make sure high schoolers get their important rest. This was very helpful. Thank you.

I don't think any school should have a start time after 9:00. The late start times will have a negative impact on students who participate in athletics as far as missed class time to leave early to participate in athletic events. This schedule would also have a negative impact for students in classrooms where teacher/coaches have to leave early and the class is repeatedly covered by a substitute. No

HS kids should start at 8:30 or 8:45 am, more conducive to their bio rythms. Elementary start times should be 7:30 am because young children go to bed early in evening, then wide awake and fully alert by 7:30 am. They are naturally tired right around 2:00 pm, an ideal time for a nap! Currently, from 2-4pm elementary age kids struggle to keep their attention in class for the last 2 hours of the day. As a classroom volunteer for 7 years, that is what I observed. I am not opposed to the idea of Option B, however, I wonder if moving the start time back by only 25 minutes is a sufficient amount of change to really make a difference if the goal is to help our teens get additional sleep. The option that best meets that goal is option A. It would much appreciated if guys could make these the start times: High School: 9:05 am - 3:35 pm Middle School: 7:45 am - 2:15 pm Elementary School: 9:05 am -3:35pm or (8:25 am - 2:55 pm) If you guys could please take this as an option it would be much appreciated and there would be many parents who would agree on this timing I assure you guys that.

Zero period at 6:20 am is not mentioned. School activities can go to 10 or 11 pm and then back at school by 6:15 am!

I believe the idea of later start times is a good one however the costs and especially the effect to athletics outweighs the positive for high school students. For elementary school kids I believe they should start school atleast as late as 8:30 so they have agaquete time to wake up and eat before school. ( we have 2 kids in elementary ) I agreed that later school times are beneficial. However, the amount of money taken from taxpayers to implement Proposal A is too much to ask for when taxpayers are already faced with a huge increase in property taxes. I would rather see money go toward a more important issue.