Stillwater school officials are considering a major change for the 2024-2025 school year: later start times at Stillwater Area High School and the middle schools and earlier start times for the district’s elementary schools.

District officials say they have heard for years from parents and educators questioning the early start for high school students. Research cited by the district shows later start times for secondary schools better align with teens’ unique sleep needs.

Come 2024, Stillwater Area High School could start at 8:40 a.m., an hour later than this school year. Middle schools could start at 8:50 a.m., an hour later than this school year. Elementary schools could start at 7:40 a.m., an hour earlier.

“We have been looking at ways to improve student achievement and address student and staff mental health concerns, and this is one of the ways that we feel we could make a difference,” said Carissa Keister, the district’s chief of staff and communications director. “We have been reading the research, talking to other districts, and we feel there are a lot of benefits to our students.”

Experts say teenagers’ natural sleep cycle makes it difficult to fall asleep in time to get enough rest for early-morning classes. Younger kids are more adaptable.

A later start time “improves academic performance and the health and safety of the teenagers,” according to the Minnesota Sleep Society. “Two decades worth of concrete and indisputable evidence from around the world on adolescent sleep rhythms, sleep loss and the effect of later school start times reveals: better academic performance, improved graduation rates, less depression, substance use, tardiness and obesity and fewer car accidents.”

Stillwater officials began talking about changing school start times around 2017, but postponed the decision because the district was at the same time making changes with school consolidation – closing Marine Elementary, Withrow Elementary and Oak Park Elementary – and moving sixth graders up to middle school and ninth graders up to high school, Keister said. “It was just too much for the community at that time, so the board decided to hold off,” she said.

The start-time proposal will be presented to the school board on Dec. 19, but the proposed times could be adjusted based on parent feedback and busing needs, Keister said.

“We are continuing to study what this would actually mean for bus routes, so this information could change,” she said. “There are so many things that go along with a change, including childcare, bus pick-up and drop-off times, and after-school activities. We really want to make sure that those elementary school bus routes start as late as possible because we know there are concerns about kids being out in the dark.”

Families will have a chance to weigh in on the proposal during a series of “community conversations” in January. A final decision on school start times is expected in February.

“We recognize that this is a big change for our families and that it impacts so much of their daily lives and schedules,” Keister said. “We are looking to engage them in the conversation and work with them to see if there are ways we can address some of those challenges.”

Academic year changes

Another major change — an earlier start to the academic year — is being considered for school year 2025-2026. Under the plan, the school year would start a week earlier in August and end just before Memorial Day. The first day of school for sixth graders and ninth graders this year was Aug. 28.

Under the plan, traditional breaks, like MEA, winter break and spring break, would fall at the end of each quarter — giving staff and students natural breaks in the calendar before starting new courses, said Superintendent Mike Funk.

By beginning the year earlier, students would have additional days of instruction before spring testing. The change also would provide more days throughout the school year – almost one a month – for professional development, staff collaboration and instruction planning, he said.

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“We are committed to creating a culture in Stillwater schools that supports students and staff so that they can be their best,” Funk said. “We hear a lot about stress and anxiety and people feeling pulled in too many directions. The proposed calendar gives kids and staff an opportunity to reflect and recharge during natural breaks in the calendar.”

What about kids who work or present at the Minnesota State Fair?

That concern has been brought to the attention of district officials, but it is not clear how many students would be affected, Funk said. “If students have an opportunity to present and participate at the State Fair, we would work with families to support that, just like we would for any other activity,” he said.

Officials initially proposed starting the academic year a week earlier in 2024-25, but “based upon community feedback, we are delaying our recommendation by a year to give families more time to plan,” Funk said. A final decision on the 2024-2025 and 2025-26 academic calendars is expected in January, he said.

Student achievement

District officials are hoping the proposed changes will improve student achievement. The district’s Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment scores dropped in all areas — reading, math and science — in 2023. Proficiency rates fell to 56 percent in reading; 55 percent in math and 48 percent in science.

Although students in the district still exceed state averages, “we definitely had concerns about our scores,” Keister said. “Our achievement is not what we would expect it to be.”

Many schools in the area have already made the switch to later start times. One exception is Forest Lake Area Schools.

Forest Lake officials said Wednesday that they are not currently considering any changes to start times.

“This is a complex issue with a wide range of implications for students and families,” Superintendent Steve Massey said in an email to the Pioneer Press. “Each district has its own unique circumstances, and one of ours is the large geographic area we serve, which makes a change to transportation and start times particularly challenging. If we were ever to consider a change like this, we would look for significant input from our community.”

School start times information sessions

Residents in the Stillwater Area Public Schools district will have a chance to learn more about research on school start times during a presentation at the school board meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Staff will share initial calendar and start-time proposals at the school board meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 19.

Community conversations, where staff will share information and gather feedback from community members, will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 4 at Oak-Land Middle School and 6 p.m. Jan. 11 at Stillwater Middle School.

For more information, visit www.stillwaterschools.org.

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