Students, parents weigh in on early start times in Clark County schools

Estrella Gomez lives close enough to Eldorado High School that she can walk to school if she doesn’t have a ride. But in November and December, when the sun doesn’t rise until close to 7 a.m., that means Gomez starts her trek to school in the dark.

She typically tries to walk with a friend, or with her phone and a canister of pepper spray at the ready.

“It’s definitely scarier in the dark, especially being a kid and being a girl,” she said. “Especially in this part of town, it’s not the safest.”

Gomez’s concerns are ones that parents and students have echoed as more than half of all school campuses in the district will see changes to their start times as a result of a schedule change the district is implementing to ensure that school bus service runs on time.

A majority of the adjustments will be 30 minutes or less, both earlier and later, but some schools will see shifts between one and two hours. Mojave High School will see its start time moved two hours, from 9 a.m. to 7 a.m., the largest shift in the district.

The earlier start times come as public high schools in neighboring California begin complying with a new state law that prohibits them from starting earlier than 8:30 a.m. The state passed the law, which bars middle schools from starting earlier than 8 a.m., in 2019, and it took effect July 1.

It’s a change that’s backed up by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later, citing early school start times as one of the reasons adolescents do not get enough sleep.

It’s also a move that various Nevada lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to introduce over the years, with opponents citing factors like high transportation costs.

The district says adjusting the start and end times for students will improve on-time rates and efficiency for bus service.

Clark County has experienced a yearslong bus driver shortage that has led to delays when substitute drivers aren’t as familiar with bus routes.

It’s a struggle that Jordy Cruz, a Mojave sophomore, knows all too well, having been picked up anywhere between 8:15 a.m. and 8:25 a.m., depending on his bus driver that day.

On rare occasions, he’s missed the bus when it came earlier than scheduled.

“The bus came too early,” he said. “That was kind of hard to explain to my mom because she wouldn’t believe me.”

Which schools will see changes?

While Mojave has the most extreme time adjustment under the district’s new schedule, other high schools seeing earlier start times of 45 minutes or more are Coronado, Palo Verde, Western, Green Valley, Arbor View, Sunrise Mountain and Bonanza.

Some schools, like Eldorado High School, won’t see any changes.

But for Cruz, the Mojave sophomore, the new start time will mean adjusting his morning routine. During his freshman year, he liked to do his hair, let it dry out, and have some time in the morning to feel good before he had to catch an 8 a.m. bus to school.

Next month, Cruz said, he’ll have to wake up at 4 a.m. with the new start time of 7 a.m. That might be difficult for the 15-year-old, who currently goes to bed at 2 a.m.

“I’m going to not have much time,” he said. “I’m that person that likes to dress up for school. … I want to look good, you know? I won’t have a lot of time for that right now.”

Starting school earlier also allows some students to care for their younger siblings as their school will let out before most elementary schools let out for the day, the district said in a statement.

But for Jamie Gutwirth, a parent whose son attends Palo Verde High School, which will move from an 8 a.m. start time to 7 a.m., the issue also affects him as someone who works late nights in the casino business.

Gutwirth raised concerns about his son losing sleep as a result of the change and echoed the concerns raised by Gomez about students walking to class in the dark.

“No one’s going to get any sleep,” he said. “I’m not going to get sleep. I don’t get sleep as it is.”

‘Pros and cons’

Despite the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, an overwhelming majority of high schools and middle schools in the U.S. start before 8:30 a.m., according to a 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study.

The academy also called on individual school districts to take commute times and other factors into account in setting a start time that allows students to get adequate sleep.

Dr. Rosemary Hyun, who worked as a pediatrician in Las Vegas for nearly three decades, said she supported the academy’s recommendation, citing the negative impacts of chronic sleep deprivation on young people.

“Kids are not awake, so I don’t know how much they’re absorbing in those early morning hours,” she said. “You worry about the ultimate development of their brain and cognition.”

For Cruz, the earlier start times will mean more time in the afternoon to attend extracurricular activities, like the leadership program he said he typically was late to last year when his classes didn’t get out until 3:26 p.m.

He’s also looking forward to having more time to do homework and more time to spend with his dog, Chico.

“There’s some pros and cons,” he said of the change.

But Gomez, the junior at Eldorado, will continue to wake up between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. to get to Eldorado before the 7 a.m. bell rings each morning. She doesn’t eat breakfast because of her early start time and spends the hour before school trying to finish her school projects and packing up things that she didn’t put away the night before if she fell asleep doing homework.

Gomez called the tradeoff of getting out of school later one that students are willing to make. She also called for better communication between the adults making decisions in the district and the students they represent.

“Kids are more aware of what their needs are and how they’re being met, and a lot of times, the district is not meeting those needs,” she said.

Contact Lorraine Longhi at 702-387-5298 or llonghi@reviewjournal.com. Follow her @lolonghi on Twitter.