Reply to If you're in MCPS, bell times are under debate again. Not good for kids with sleep problems.

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Reply to "If you're in MCPS, bell times are under debate again. Not good for kids with sleep problems."

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[quote=Anonymous]A lot of kids with special needs, especially ASD and ADHD, have an especially hard time getting up early for school due to sleep difficulties.  The board of ed is discussing bell times again because some of the elementary school schedules have been pushed late as a result of the 20 minute delay in all school start times implemented a couple years ago and they have a vocal lobby.  The BOE needs to hear voices from the other side too.  This 20 minute delayed start, small change as it was, makes a big positive difference for a lot of middle school and high school age kids including my own DC, who has a terrible time falling asleep and is adjusting to HS demands.  Every extra minute of sleep helps.  If your kids aren't middle school or high school age yet, trust me, it gets harder for kids to fall asleep before 11 pm and harder for kids to get up and function early in the morning.  School demands also get much harder.

Ideally they would move the morning start closer to 8:30 am when the Academy of Pediatrics and various sleep organizations say teens should be starting school due to overwhelming research on academic functioning and physical and mental health and safety (car accidents/drowsy driving).

If this issue affects you, you might consider writing a quick email to the board of ed at boe@mcpsmd.org .  If you've been pleased with the 20 min delay in start times let them know!  The issue is being discussed now so getting in contact ASAP could help stop the board from reverting to the old schedule (HS starting at 7:25 am!).[/quote]

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