If later school start times are better for students, why are they so unpopular in Shelby County?

Cole Bowden is a morning person. 

His younger sister, most decidedly, is not.

"I am lucky to get a 'hello' from her in the morning," 16-year-old Cole said of 14-year-old Paige.

"It's just too early for me," Paige said. 

So she was thrilled when, before her eighth-grade year, the Germantown Municipal School District overhauled its morning bell times, pushing Houston Middle's start time from 7 a.m. to 8. 

Her brother, approaching his sophomore year at the time, was less thrilled. Houston High shifted from a 7 a.m. start to 7:45, pushing the end of school from 2 p.m. to 2:45. That affected his whole day, pushing wrestling practice and the rest of his evening routine back 45 minutes, leaving less time for homework or a job.

"A house divided," their mother, Germantown Municipal Council PTA President Jodie Bowden said of her children's split feelings on the issue—a split that mirrors much of their community, even a year after the time changes. 

Germantown, located in a county of six municipal school districts, one county system and one state-run school district, is the only district where all high school students start school as late as 7:45. That's despite mountains of recent studies and lobbying from medical groups on the benefits of starting school no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

The change in Germantown came through grassroots efforts, driven by parents incensed that some children riding the bus had to wake up as early as 5:45. But other parents and even district leaders questioned whether it was worth the cost.

Meanwhile, the issue has taken hold nationally, as California considers a first-of-its kind bill to outlaw a school day starting before 8:30 a.m. According to nonprofit advocacy group Start Schools Later, school districts across 19 states — including the Williamson County school district south of Nashville and The McCallie School in Chattanooga — have later start times this school year than last.

But in Shelby County, a year after Germantown's shift to a later start time for middle and high school students, no other districts have found the motivation to change. Their leaders cite cost—further widening the equity gap between wealthier and poorer school districts—logistics and an overall lack of interest as factors. Germantown residents also aren't uniformly convinced their expensive change — $500,000 for this school year— was for the better.

"I’m not seeing any bright, shiny, happy kids kicking their heels together," Houston High Principal Kyle Cherry said.

"Sleep deprivation epidemic"

Dr. Merrill Wise sees it every day.

"They’re excessively sleepy," Wise, a sleep medicine specialist, said of the adolescent patients who come to him at the Methodist Healthcare Sleep Disorder Center in Memphis.

The average high school student, he said, sleeps 6 to 6½ hours per night. They need 8 to 10, he said.

"We are living with a sleep deprivation epidemic," Wise said.

That's why he co-authored the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's position paper on the issue, released in April. Wise served a six-year term on the academy's board, and joined current board members in calling for school districts to start classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

The move, he said, would promote healthier physical safety, as many high school students drive themselves to school, as well as better cognitive function and social behaviors. 

"I think it’s one of the most modifiable factors that parents and school personnel could pursue," Wise said. 

But the later start time isn't solely the answer, he said. Families have to be educated about healthy sleep schedules, prying electronic devices away from children at night and creating routines that lead to more sleep. Without those factors, he said, schools may not see much difference in their children.

Germantown makes costly changes

When residents in Germantown—along with the cities of Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Lakeland and Millington—voted to start their own school districts, breaking away from Shelby County Schools, the ability to make decisions on a hyper-local level was a key talking point. 

When Germantown's district took shape in early 2014, a number of parents saw the opportunity to change something that had long bothered them—the 7 a.m. start time at Houston High and Middle schools.

Parents came in droves to speak at board meetings about pushing back the time. But that spurred others to speak out in favor of the early time, citing after school activities and jobs that would be affected if school started later. 

Linda Fisher, the current board chairwoman and one of the founding members of the board, said early concerns were over finances. 

At the time, schools in the district started at 7, 8 and 9. Pushing them all back would make elementary schools start too late, so more schools would have to start at the same time, requiring more buses and bus drivers.

The district has a contract with Durham School Services for its transportation, and as part of that, is shares buses with Collierville Schools. The contract included a clause that if one district altered its start times, affecting their ability to share buses, that district would have to cover the increased costs for both school systems.

The board balked at a price tag in the hundreds of thousands, voting 3-2 against changing the times. They promised to review the issue the following year. 

Parental voices intensified, and the district held input meetings for parents, teachers and school leaders. The second vote was unanimous, and starting in the 2016-17 year, no school started before 7:45 a.m.

"I think everybody definitely was in agreement that it was the best decision for our students," Fisher said. "It was the financial aspect that held it off a year."

The total cost was about $1 million over the two remaining years of the contract with Durham and Collierville. That includes $350,000 paid to Collierville for the impact on their bus schedule. While that part of the cost goes away after the contract terminates at the end of this school year, Germantown will still have between $200,000 to $300,000 in extra transportation costs each year, in a district with fewer than 6,000 students.

For parent Laura Meanwell, who led the charge to change the times, the expense was worth it.

“Last year it was wonderful sending our kids to school in daylight," she said. "They were rested. We were very grateful for the change.”

Cherry, the principal, declined to comment on whether he thought the change was worth the money. 

"It all depends upon who you ask," he said, noting that rates of tardiness haven't dropped, and he's heard complaints of after-school activities pushed back.

Superintendent Jason Manuel said the district made several changes last year that will make it hard to say for sure what variables worked or didn't. Test scores from last year have not yet been released, although the high school is one of the highest-performing in the state.

Start times not on the radar

No community has seen the same grassroots call for a change in start time as Germantown.

Natalia Powers, chief of communications and community engagement for Shelby County Schools, said the district surveyed parents about changing start times, and they overwhelmingly have rejected the idea. High schools in the district start at 7:15.

"We’ve looked at the options over the last two years, but the main thing is we don’t want to be disruptive of the lives of all of our families," Powers said. 

In addition to students having jobs and activities after school, many older students watch their younger siblings after school. In the school's turnaround program, the Innovation Zone, school days are already extended one hour. Pushing back the start time would have students at school even later.

St. George's Independent School, which has a high school in Collierville but offers shuttles for students from as far as Oak Court Mall, changed last year from an 8 a.m. start time to 8:30. 

Head of School Ross Peters said the move was a response to research saying the 8:30 time is healthier, but also a way to make the school as accessible as possible for students who live farther away.

Instead of pushing back the end of the day, Peters said the school made class periods during the day longer and fewer, removing transitional time between classes.

"We need kids who aren’t just awake enough to absorb content, but they’re rested enough to deeply engage the material in front of them," Peters said.

Collierville Schools is building a new $93 million high school, which may spur conversations about start times when it opens, Superintendent John Aitken said.

Bartlett City Schools officials said the issue has received no recent attention. Lakeland School System doesn't have a high school, but its new middle school that opened this year starts at 8 a.m. Millington Municipal Schools leaders review start times at the beginning of every school year, but haven't made any changes.

In Arlington Community Schools, Superintendent Tammy Mason said the district looked at a later start time, but $300,000 in extra cost put a hold on that conversation.

"Over multiple years, that adds up," Mason said.

Reach Jennifer Pignolet at jennifer.pignolet@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @JenPignolet. Reach Linda Moore at Linda.Moore@commercialappeal.com