Sweet Dream? Fairfax Students Could Get Extra Hour of ZZZZs

Wake up, kids: You may get an extra hour of sleep.

Following a study commissioned by the Fairfax County School Board, school start times could be pushed back, giving some teens up to an extra hour of sleep.

The Washington Post reports that under the possibilities to be considered:

• High school start times could be delayed until as late as 8:30 a.m.
• Elementary school start times also could be moved, with classes beginning between 7:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.
• Middle Schools could start anywhere from 7:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

In four of the scenarios, which Children’s officials plan to present to the School Board on Wednesday, teenagers could gain an additional 30 minutes to an hour of sleep on weeknights.

Judith Owens, director of sleep medicine at Children’s and an expert who helped write the new proposals, said that 55 percent of Fairfax high school seniors get less than six hours of sleep a night. The Virginia Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers get at least nine hours of sleep each night. 

If approved, changes could start in time for the 2015 school year.

• What do you think? Should school start times be pushed back? Tell us in comments below.