The wheels of change grind slowly in Fairfax County. The move toward later, healthier school start times for teenage public school students is a prime example. Despite support from a wide range of health professionals, the School Board has struggled with the issue for some 20 years. On Oct. 23, the School Board, urged on by activist parents, took the plunge. By a vote of 11 to 1, they approved a modest change in start times for high school students, while leaving middle schoolers in the dark so to speak. Starting September 2015, high school students’ classes will begin between 8 and 8:15 a.m. instead of the current 7:20 a.m., or Oh Dark Twenty as some kids and parents refer to it. (By comparison, Loudoun High Schools start class at 9 a.m. and 78 of 92 Virginia systems start after 8 a.m.). Middle schoolers will still begin classes at 7:30 a.m., Oh Dark Thirty! This despite the fact that, according to the National Children’s Medical Center, additional sleep from later start times improves learning, mood, memory and performance in school, athletics and other extracurricular activity. Teens are less likely to fall asleep in class or while doing homework, less likely to suffer depression (which affects 1 in 4 Fairfax teens), less likely to have car crashes, and are less likely to have disciplinary problems. That is, kids with later start times will do better academically and be healthier and safer. While the change approved for high school is well short of optimal, it is a breakthrough, and a compromise which would not have happened were it not for persistent, well-organized parents under the banner of Start Later for Excellence in Educational Proposal (SLEEP) led by Priscilla Payne and Sandy Evans who fought for 12 years to achieve it. Kudos also go to Superintendent Karen Garza and Board members McLaughlin, Derenak-Kaufax, Schultz and our own Pat Hynes. They led the Board to overcome bureaucratic inertia of staff and opposition from a strong after-school sports lobby and the County Park Authority concerned about delayed practices and less-than-optimal use of park facilities. While most Board members congratulated themselves at length on this notable victory, a handful confessed that it had taken far too long to achieve. They also spoke of the lost opportunities for thousands of students (and the lives of some) as a result of the unconscionable delay, and how much essential improvement we need for better health, safety and performance of our high school and middle school students. Let’s hope the SLEEP activists, Superintendent Garza and the more energized Board members will continue to provide the leadership necessary to get the rest of the job done for the sake of the thousands of kids down the pike.
New subject: Please come to a Candlelight Prayer Vigil for the people of West Africa afflicted by the current, most deadly Ebola virus outbreak of the 24 that have occurred in Africa since the 1980s. The Vigil will be held at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2 at Washington Plaza on Lake Anne. All are welcome. For more information, please contact Rev. Jim Papile, the Rector of the St. Anne’s Episcopal Church.