BROOKINGS – It’s a struggle every parent knows: getting the kids, drowsy eyed and sluggish in the early morning hours, up for school. But that ritual might be a little less painful this fall if board members follow through on an idea presented to them during Monday night’s Brookings School Board meeting.

At the moment, classes start at 8:20 a.m. in the elementary schools and 8:15 a.m. for the rest, with the time the first bell rings to alert students to start heading for their classrooms varying slightly for each school.

The point for discussion was the possible implementation of later start times for the middle school and high school, potentially with an 8:30 a.m. start time.

While discussing calendar adjustments for the 2017-2018 school year, Brookings Superintendent Klint Willert noted that he included in the agenda packet notes from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC and the U.S. Department of Education had collaborated on reviewing data on school start times.

The verdict, to summarize, was that most of the public middle and high schools reviewed start too early. According to their data, “Schools that have a start time of 8:30 a.m. or later allow adolescent students to get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights: about 8.5 to 9.5 hours.”

Sleep-deprived students are at an increased risk for a host of problems: such students are more likely to perform poorer in school, be overweight, be physically inactive, suffer from depression, drinking of alcohol, and use tobacco products and drugs.

Since the Brookings School Board was already reviewing potential adjustments to the school calendar for the 2017-2018, Willert thought it might be prudent to consider starting school later as well, as one potential means of boosting student health and overall wellbeing.

Other studies Willert reviewed have shown other benefits that followed later school days: higher student achievement scores, improved school attendance rates and safer teen drivers.

Having brought it to the board’s attention Monday and to the public, the district will now discuss the potential change with staff representatives to understand their thoughts on the matter.

If implemented, the next important step would be to notify parents as soon as possible so that they can prepare for any changes in their scheduling that might ensue as a result.

Such a change could bring up scheduling concerns, Willert knows: “What does this mean for daycare, childcare, pick up, drop off, all those dynamics that go into managing our days that are already busy?”

The end of the school day would also be moved back to reflect the later starting time.

“We would want to keep that same number of learning opportunities available to students, and that means a certain number of minutes within the school day to make that achievable,” Willert said.

Things like bus schedules and other scheduling adjustments to make a time change at the middle school and high school work for all schools is something that would need to be worked out, too, but Willert’s confident that solutions can be reached.

If conversations and feedback go well, then the board could be ready to act on the proposal as soon as the June 19 school board meeting.

If the board approves it, Willert said the district will communicate with parents as soon as those scheduling concerns (such as when school breakfast will be and when the first bell will ring) are addressed.

“I think that after the people look at the science and understand the research that’s gone into advocating for a later start time, people will begin to see the benefits for our children,” Willert said.

Parents are encouraged to contact the district office by phone (696-4700) or online (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2gjn9d4UMv3i-XV9Y1guCxVs0ZPbfPCck0jVZSmc78Cvshg/viewform?usp=sf_link) in order to leave feedback.

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.