During a school board work session Jan. 24, a school board member brought to light the option of starting Columbia Public Schools high schools last in next year’s new, three-tiered transportation system. To read the full story, click here.
Bearing News asked students around RBHS:
1. Which start time would work best for you?
2. What would a later start time mean for you?
“I think it’d be better if it was an hour later.”
“It’d give me more time to sleep.”
“The later one. The elementary school kids [should be first] ’cause my little brother is in elementary school and he can get up right away and just be ready to go, and I’m just dead all morning.”
“Personally, if I was here next year, I’d probably make it to school on time more often ’cause I’m awful at getting up at 6 o’clock to get ready, and this way, I’d be more awake and ready to go.”
“The latest one. It really wouldn’t affect me personally because I’m an only child and I’m a senior so it won’t matter to me, but scientifically it’s proven that teenagers focus better between 10 [a.m.] and the afternoon, and little kids focus better in the morning, so it just makes sense to let the little kids go in the morning instead of just depriving us of sleep.”
“Yeah, that’s a big controversy. I don’t know exactly how I feel about it ’cause I’ve never participated in after-school activities, but I feel like if it was pushed back, I feel like that would raise a lot of concern so I don’t understand why we’re changing everything up because of the change. Things run late anyway so pushing them later, like some things run till 10, 11 at night, so pushing them [to] 12 to 1 is getting kind of crazy.”
“Probably [closer to 8 a.m.], because it gives you time to wake up and stuff.”
“It wouldn’t affect me ’cause I probably wouldn’t come to school on time. [Late end times would have an impact because] people got jobs and it’ll delay job times.”
“8 [a.m.] because it’s not as much of a different time than we already have, but it gives us more time to sleep in, and I think that would really help because we wouldn’t get out that much later.”
“It would give me less time after school to do my homework ’cause of sports and other activities but I think that it would be better.”
Photos and interviews by Renata Williams
