(Publisher’s Note: Since this conversation continues nearly two years later, we believe presenting the original information provided by BOE member Molly Aderholt concerning high school start times may benefit those charged with this decision.)
It is still dark outside when public high school students in Ohio County wait for their respective school buses each morning, and it has been that way since the opening of Wheeling Park High School 46 years ago.
Ohio County Board of Education member Molly Aderholt firmly believes science can shed some light on why altering the high school’s 7:30 a.m. start time would improve academic achievement. Aderholt, one of five members of the county’s BOE, has been pushing for discussion on the proposal and now an independent study offers insight on how the school district can further investigate the issue.
“The study we as a Board had commissioned was expected to tell us if our current routes are efficient, and what would it look like if we adjusted the routes so we could start the high school a little bit later than we do now,” Aderholt explained. “The initial study came back and some of the information was solid, but we are going to contact the folks who did it to see if we have more options for additional information.
“There are a lot of experts that have weighed in on the start times of high schools and they say 8:30 a.m. is the best possible time to begin classes,” she said. “I know, as a board, we have said we would be open to an earlier time than 8:30 a.m. as long as it is later than what we have now. So now, I would like to look at our best options so we can move forward with the idea.”
Aderholt has pursued this idea for more than a year, and one reason is because of how her own children have reacted to the high school’s early morning class schedule. According to Wheeling Park High’s website, each day consists of eight class periods with the final one ending at 2:30 p.m.
For many, that is when students involved with extra-curricular activities report, and coaches, advisors, and parents have warned the Board of the ripple effects involved with starting classes later and ending later as a result.
“It’s not new that some people are afraid of change, but I have seen our school system tackle some pretty monumental things since I’ve been on the board, so I’m sure this is something we can figure out if we work together on something that will be good for the children and their education,” Aderholt insisted. “We just have to put our minds to it and do it.
“I believe once parents and guardians take a good look at the benefits connected to later start times at the high school, they will be in favor of it. In fact, I bet a lot of them are going to wonder why we haven’t done this before now,” she said. “Yes, it will require changes for those involved with our extra-curricular activities, but this has been accomplished elsewhere and everyone has survived.”
Brain Development
She has read study after study, and she has asked her BOE colleagues to do the same.
“It’s all really about the brain,” Aderholt said. “I hear that if the kids should go to sleep earlier, then the issue should be solved, and that’s just not true and the science proves it. My own kids went to bed at a time so they would be properly rested, but that’s just not the way their brains work at that age.”
Those two factors, the adolescent brain, and the amount of rest a teenager requires, are most important when it comes to start times for American high schools.
“From what I have discovered during my research on the issues, many experts thought that 8 a.m. was the best time for elementary school to begin, and that was interesting to me because we have elementary schools that begin at different times because of our transportation schedules,” Aderholt said. “The preliminary study did suggest that those students all begin their classes at the same times instead of the way it is today.
“I have been told a number of times that there’s no way we can start Wheeling Park High School any later because of all of the extracurricular activities. Well, John Marshall starts later than Wheeling Park and everyone seems to be OK in Marshall County,” she said. “Somehow the people just one county south of us have figured it out with the classes and the sports, and they somehow manage to compete against us, right? It can be figured out if people want to figure it out.”
Another viable in the start time equation is, of course, the cost to the Ohio County taxpayer.
According to the school district’s website, the school district owns 60 buses for 48 routes that are traveled each day. According to the statistical data calculated by Ohio County Schools, the system’s bus drivers travel a collective 5,200 miles each day and approximately 1.1 million each school year.
David Crumm, the director of transportation for Ohio County Schools, estimates that each new school bus purchased by the district costs an estimated $100,000, and Aderholt said new vehicles would be needed if Wheeling Park High’s start time is pushed back.
“The study estimated we would need to purchase between 11 and 16 new buses so we could move the start time,” the BOE member reported. “So, so we would have to determine the exact number we would need, and then we would have to figure out how many new bus drivers that would be needed, as well.
“One of the things we are permitted to purchase with some of the pandemic money we received are electric buses. We would be permitted to spend up to $300,000 on each bus so, in essence, they would be free because we don’t have to pay back those funds,” she explained. “Why would we not take advantage of the chance to get free buses? I think we need to look at everything possible so our children in Ohio County can be at their best when it is time for them to begin learning each day.”
