School Starts at 8:30 am Next YearBy Alicia Gan
Starting next year, Olympian High will have an 8:30 AM – 3:40 PM school schedule. This is a change mandated by California Senate Bill 328, which was signed into law by Governor Newson in 2019. Students can have a 7:30 AM – 2:40 PM school schedule if they choose to have a Period 0 course.
Explaining SB-328 SB-328 aims to improve student performance and attendance by adjusting the school schedule to better fit teenage sleep schedules. It is well known that teenagers are often sleep deprived. Interest groups such as the nonprofit Start School Later and the American Academy of Pediatrics have also found and compiled extensive scientific research suggesting that teenagers have later internal clocks compared to adults, which results in them sleeping and waking up later in the day. However, some students may prefer to have a regular 7:30 – 2:40 schedule. For example, students who have extracurriculars such as athletics or VAPA commitments may not want to get out of school at 3:40 PM. Students with family responsibilities or a side job would also see their daily schedule interrupted by this change. And some students may simply want more free time in the afternoon. What Olympian is doing Although schools are required to start later, implementation is unique to each school. Period 0 classes are excluded from the later start time requirement. Olympian High is gauging period 0 interest through the Google Form students filled when selecting their courses. Students may still change their responses to the Course Selection form through the Course Change Request form, which will be available from March 18th to May 20th. Olympian High plans to expand Period 0 offerings for students who wish to maintain this year’s schedule. The expanded Period 0 program would include some core A-G classes, depending on student demand and availability. This means that students may have the option to go to school from 7:30 AM to 2:40 PM on a Periods 0-5 schedule, given enough interest. As of today, all current Period 7 offerings have confirmed a desire to become Period 0 next year. This includes Band, Color Guard, and Robotics. As with many other schools in the district, Olympian uses a hybrid schedule that combines regular and block periods. Period 7 will likely not be feasible on a hybrid model, as the new start time would force Period 7 students to stay in school until after 5 PM on block days. Limits to Period 0 As of March 10th, 72% of rising seniors have expressed an interest in Period 0, according to Olympian High counselor Sarah Huerta. Since a large majority of rising seniors are interested in a Period 0 offering, Olympian administration is planning to have a complete suit of Period 0 offerings available to seniors. That is, at least one Period 0 offering for every core senior subject, such as English, Social Science, and so on. However, not all students will have the choice of Period 0, even if interested. SB-328 only allows for schools to offer Period 0 so long as less than 50% of the student body is on a 0-5 schedule. That is, most students will have to shift to a later school start, else Olympian would be breaking the law. Currently, administration is working with teachers and counselors to organize a course offering for next year. “It’s a very complicated issue,” says Dianne Huslin, Olympian High principal. “We are still assessing how many zero-periods we can offer, because it’s voluntary.” Currently, the teacher contract is a period 1-6 schedule. Even with high student interest, teachers are not required by law to accept teaching a period 0. This means that administration must gauge student interest, find teacher interest, and match these to the best extent possible, while adhering to the law. It is possible that, by the end of this process, no one will be satisfied with the results. At the very least, traffic jams will finally be reduced. The new schedule options effectively split both drop-offs and pick-ups into two traffic blocks, about an hour apart. What to look out for Last month, teachers voted on a new schedule for Olympian High School. The schedule has since been approved by the Sweetwater district, although it has yet to become publicly available. In the coming months, look out for a school announcement about next year’s new Bell Schedule. |
No, you don’t have to stay until 3:40 on a 0-5 schedule. Addressing California's early school start in 2022-2023.
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