Local Chapters >> Maryland
Joint Resolution on Healthy, Safe, and Age-Appropriate
School Hours Legislation in Maryland
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The consequences of changing school start times are unavoidable, but they can be ameliorated with proper planning and preparation. Any consideration of a statewide mandate for a later school start time must consider the unique needs of each of the 24 local jurisdictions. However, in preserving the status quo whereby school start times are a matter for each local jurisdiction, the state risks letting local resistance trump a strong body of scientific evidence that sleep is critical to health and academic achievement." |
WHEREAS, To protect their lives and well-being, every Maryland public school student requires sufficient sleep for maximum health and wellness. Research shows that adolescents require between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep per night, yet more than three-quarters of Maryland’s high school students and over half of Maryland’s middle school students average fewer than 8 hours of sleep on school nights; and
WHEREAS, Natural sleep-wake rhythms change as children grow into adolescence, such that adolescents require an increased amount of sleep, typically have difficulty falling asleep much before 11:00 PM, and function optimally if permitted to remain asleep until 8:00 AM or later. Early middle and high school start times and student commutes to schools necessitate waking hours earlier than optimal; and
WHEREAS, Studies have demonstrated that the duration and timing of sleep is positively correlated with school outcomes, including attendance and graduation rates for secondary school students, but early school start times can curtail adolescents’ sleep, thereby negatively affecting their ability to learn and remain in school; and
WHEREAS, Research shows that insufficient and irregular sleep imperils adolescents by heightening risks for a multiplicity of threats to their health, safety, and well-being including increased risk for car crashes, athletic injuries, depression and suicidality; harmful behaviors, including use of illicit drugs, criminal behaviors and violence, and increased risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and other physical health problems; and
WHEREAS, Evidence strongly indicates that earlier school start times are a key but modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep, as well as to natural sleep rhythm disruption; and
WHEREAS, Evidence demonstrates that implementation of later school start times for adolescents affords students the opportunity to obtain sufficient levels of sleep, thereby improving physical and mental health, safety, school performance, and quality of life; and can be achieved with no change in the number of hours spent engaged in athletics, extracurricular activities, and homework after the schedule change; and
WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, National Education Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and other healthcare and education organizations support starting middle and high schools at age-appropriate hours, 8:30 a.m. or later; and
WHEREAS, Maryland should continue to lead the Nation in addressing the adolescent school start times, building on the resolution in 1998 by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society and the State’s landmark legislation in 2014 (House Bill 883) and 2016 ( House Bill 39) on school start times; and
WHEREAS, In the decade since the passage of statewide legislation encouraging later bell times, despite the ever-increasing research on the benefits of later bell times and three decades of local advocacy, only two school systems (Anne Arundel County in 2022 and Howard County in 2023) have prioritized student health and safety by implementing age-appropriate school bell times, which were implemented with no additional transportation costs; and
WHEREAS, In the report pursuant to House Bill 883, “Study of Safe and Healthy School Hours for Maryland Public Schools”, jointly published in 2014 by the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland State Department of Education which stated, “The consequences of changing school start times are unavoidable, but they can be ameliorated with proper planning and preparation. Any consideration of a statewide mandate for a later school start time must consider the unique needs of each of the 24 local jurisdictions. However, in preserving the status quo whereby school start times are a matter for each local jurisdiction, the state risks letting local resistance trump a strong body of scientific evidence that sleep is critical to health and academic achievement;” and
WHEREAS, The state of Maryland is obligated to act in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of its students, a statewide guardrail limiting how early classes begin would empower Local Education Agencies to prioritize the best interests of students while setting schedules that meet the needs of local communities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the undersigned organization supports statewide legislation setting school start times aligned with the recommendations of the major healthcare organizations.
WHEREAS, Natural sleep-wake rhythms change as children grow into adolescence, such that adolescents require an increased amount of sleep, typically have difficulty falling asleep much before 11:00 PM, and function optimally if permitted to remain asleep until 8:00 AM or later. Early middle and high school start times and student commutes to schools necessitate waking hours earlier than optimal; and
WHEREAS, Studies have demonstrated that the duration and timing of sleep is positively correlated with school outcomes, including attendance and graduation rates for secondary school students, but early school start times can curtail adolescents’ sleep, thereby negatively affecting their ability to learn and remain in school; and
WHEREAS, Research shows that insufficient and irregular sleep imperils adolescents by heightening risks for a multiplicity of threats to their health, safety, and well-being including increased risk for car crashes, athletic injuries, depression and suicidality; harmful behaviors, including use of illicit drugs, criminal behaviors and violence, and increased risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and other physical health problems; and
WHEREAS, Evidence strongly indicates that earlier school start times are a key but modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep, as well as to natural sleep rhythm disruption; and
WHEREAS, Evidence demonstrates that implementation of later school start times for adolescents affords students the opportunity to obtain sufficient levels of sleep, thereby improving physical and mental health, safety, school performance, and quality of life; and can be achieved with no change in the number of hours spent engaged in athletics, extracurricular activities, and homework after the schedule change; and
WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, National Education Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and other healthcare and education organizations support starting middle and high schools at age-appropriate hours, 8:30 a.m. or later; and
WHEREAS, Maryland should continue to lead the Nation in addressing the adolescent school start times, building on the resolution in 1998 by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society and the State’s landmark legislation in 2014 (House Bill 883) and 2016 ( House Bill 39) on school start times; and
WHEREAS, In the decade since the passage of statewide legislation encouraging later bell times, despite the ever-increasing research on the benefits of later bell times and three decades of local advocacy, only two school systems (Anne Arundel County in 2022 and Howard County in 2023) have prioritized student health and safety by implementing age-appropriate school bell times, which were implemented with no additional transportation costs; and
WHEREAS, In the report pursuant to House Bill 883, “Study of Safe and Healthy School Hours for Maryland Public Schools”, jointly published in 2014 by the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland State Department of Education which stated, “The consequences of changing school start times are unavoidable, but they can be ameliorated with proper planning and preparation. Any consideration of a statewide mandate for a later school start time must consider the unique needs of each of the 24 local jurisdictions. However, in preserving the status quo whereby school start times are a matter for each local jurisdiction, the state risks letting local resistance trump a strong body of scientific evidence that sleep is critical to health and academic achievement;” and
WHEREAS, The state of Maryland is obligated to act in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of its students, a statewide guardrail limiting how early classes begin would empower Local Education Agencies to prioritize the best interests of students while setting schedules that meet the needs of local communities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the undersigned organization supports statewide legislation setting school start times aligned with the recommendations of the major healthcare organizations.
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Signed By:
Start School Later Start School Later Maryland Start School Later Anne Arundel County Start School Later Baltimore City Start School Later Baltimore County Start School Later Howard County Start School Later Montgomery County |