SLEEP Goal: To change Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) middle and high school start times to later in the morning. Research shows that later start times correspond with teen sleep needs and improve health, quality of life, and school performance.

The effort to change Fairfax County Public School start times by parents concerned about the health impact of too-early high school start times on adolescent students has been going on for at least 10 years. SLEEP was started in January 2004 by Sandy Evans and Phyllis Payne. Momentum is building for a change. We need your continuing support to finally accomplish the goal of so many parents for so long. To learn more about the history of this issue in Fairfax, please visit the History page.

News Updates

SLEEP High School Pilot Plans: Move Times Later, Save Millions to Reduce Class Size

May 11, 2009 - SLEEP has developed pilot proposals that would move some high school start times and save millions of dollars for the FCPS budget. These millions could be used to reduce class size and retain more excellent teachers. We would like to see FCPS consider these plans.

Both of our proposals continue current levels of service to and from TJ, magnet schools, and GT centers.

“Pool Pilot”: This proposal keeps ALL elementary schools at their current times and moves only 9 high schools and one middle school to between 7:50 and 8:30 am. (Click link below to see details.) Using a software tool developed by former School Board member Steve Hunt, SLEEP estimates this pilot would SAVE about $11 million, enough to avoid a half-student increase in class size (and about $6 million more in savings than FCPS’ current proposal, I-5). The name refers to the fact that it allows swim/dive practice times to remain intact, because it moves only those high schools that currently have later swim/dive practices at RECenters. It would replace staff’s Iteration 5, which moves 122 schools--most of them later--including 47 that change by 20 minutes or more. (FCPS staff, like SLEEP, found that moving schools later in the morning reduced bus costs. Unlike SLEEP, they chose to move elementary schools and middle schools.)

“I-5-Plus-5 Pilot”: If staff’s latest draft (Iteration 5) is adopted, we can still pilot later high school start times and save about $5 million MORE. This pilot uses the I-5 bell schedule but also moves 4 high schools and one middle school to 8 am. The schools used in this example are: Mt. Vernon,Madison, Hayfield and Woodson HS and Frost MS. Other high schools could be used and achieve similar savings.

Click here to see more details and graphs.

FCPS Proposing ES/MS Bell Schedule Changes for Fall 2009

April 27, 2009 - FCPS document FCPS Iteration #5 (posted 4.21.2009) lists changes in school start times that may be coming next fall. FCPS staff have proposed significant changes to many elementary and middle school start times. Unfortunately, the proposed changes DO NOT improve high school start times. Specifics have yet to made public, but SLEEP has discovered that the FCPS School Board may consider new proposed bell changes as part of its budget plan in May. SLEEP is concerned about the lack of public notice or input. There are choices to be made, and parents and teachers have a right to be involved.

Sample Alternatives for Later Start Times, April 2009

April 21, 2009 - SLEEP has been working on other options for later start times. Former School Board member Steve Hunt developed a parametric software tool that allows us to change a start time at any given school and to see a graphical depiction of the approximate total number of busses in use over the course of the morning and afternoon. This software has made it possible to illustrate how some changes could decrease costs to the system. At this point, we are using the software tool to model options that don't move any elementary or middle schools' bell schedules but do shift some high schools later. Even better, it appears possible to do this AND save money! Take a look at a couple of our sample graphs on this, and Phyllis and Sandy's recent speeches to the Board of Supervisors.One model could save $11 million (which is enough to avoid increased class sizes)!

If bell schedules are to be changed, it should be to benefit our students. Parents and teachers should have ample time to comment on specifics for their school before any decisions are made. Parents should also get a chance to decide if they would rather have high schools or middle schools get the benefit of later start times, if only one level can.

Call to Action: Counter Efforts to Kill All Progress

March 16, 2009 - Let your School Board members know they need to keep working on solving the too-early high school start time problem! This issue won’t go away until all our students have healthy schedules. But opponents want to close the door forever on improvements and will try to do so at the March 19 School Board meeting.

Board members agreed that Iteration 3 (the first no-cost staff draft) will be rejected because of specific problems with the school-by-school bell schedule and that change won’t occur in the 2009-10 school year.

But several School Board members stated their strong commitment to fixing the too-early high school start time problem and are working on ways to move forward. They need YOUR support.

See excellent editorials supporting continued work on the later start time issue: “Snooze Control,” The Washington Post, March 9, 2009.

“Later Start Times Still Possible: Not this proposal, but later start times still worth the effort, without hurting athletics and activities,” The Connection Newspapers, March 3, 2009.

SLEEP Cites Multiple Flaws in FCPS Survey

An FCPS survey released March 6, 2009, failed to ask the most important questions in the later start time debate. Instead, it pointed to problems with the specifics of a staff draft of a bell schedule and drew on gross misinformation being spread throughout the school community as the survey was being conducted. In addition, the survey tool itself had multiple glaring flaws in design and administration, with no controls over who was taking it or how many times. See SLEEP statement.

For a laugh about survey design, click here.

Other no-cost options for bell schedule changes are possible, and SLEEP is continuing to explore them. Many of the opponents at community dialogues commented that they are in favor of later start times for the high school, but were opposed to specific elementary and middle school bell times in the Iteration 3 staff draft. Others were angry and motivated to attend the meetings based on the alleged potential impacts on sports and community use. To date, no real attempt at realistic and workable sports rescheduling has been done.

Sports scheduling: FCPS should conduct a thorough analysis of current field and gym usage. Then it will be able to create a realistic and workable schedule for practice times for high school students that maintains time for community use.

Major Problems in Staff DRAFT #3

The FCPS STAFF DRAFT of the bell schedule (Iteration 3 or I-3) is unacceptable. Its main value was in proving that later high school start times could be accomplished at no cost, which staff had denied for more than five years. It got us over one major barrier, but was also filled with landmines. The community continues to strongly support later, healthier start times for our teen students but staff’s draft has too many problems:

The staff’s draft sports schedule also seems to create more problems than it solves and has scared students into thinking they have to choose between a healthy school schedule and a sport they love when no such choice is necessary. (Since the first written version of the sports schedule was only released to the public during the community dialogues, SLEEP volunteers are still in the process of analyzing how much better the sports schedule could be.) Watch this space for more information on this.

Even some opponents of Iteration 3 have commented that it seems as if this draft and the projected sports schedule were intentionally designed to shock and divide the community and to make parents, students and teachers cling to the status quo.

Next steps: Take Action—Write to the School Board before March 9th. Ask the board members to USE the information gathered from the community dialogues and the surveys to move forward to give relief to our teen students, rather than giving up on this effort because of I-3’s flaws. Write to all of the school board members and to Dr. Dale (see email list below) to ask them to explore other options to change high school start times.

Jack.Dale@fcps.edu, Elizabeth.Bradsher@fcps.edu, jane.strauss@fcps.edu, ilryong.moon@fcps.edu, brad.center@fcps.edu , James.Raney@fcps.edu, kaye.kory@fcps.edu, kathy.l.smith@fcps.edu, pneichner@fcps.edu, tessie.wilson@fcps.edu, Martina.Hone@fcps.edu, stuart.gibson@fcps.edu, arvin.ahmadi@yahoo.com, daniel.storck@fcps.edu

Read Sleep's letter to the School Board, and write your own

Find the facts here: “Healthy Start Times Mean Better Performance: In the classroom, on the field, and behind the wheel".

Read Position Papers and Rebuttals - click here!

Read Parents’ Testimony at the January 2009 School Board Budget Hearing, click here

FCPS Staff Report No-Cost Plan To Fix Bell Schedules
in Fairfax County Public Schools, January 2009

Happy New Year! FCPS Transportation staff released a report outlining a plan for implementing reasonable bell schedules with no added cost. The latest solution (Iteration 3), posted on the FCPS website, would require 1,128 buses, fewer than the current 1,144 being used in the 2008-9 school year.

To see the full staff report, click here.

The latest draft succeeded in placing all elementary schools between 7:50 am and 9:25 am, the same basic timeframe as now but with more on the earlier end in keeping in young-child biology. Most high schools were set to start at 8:30 am and end at 3:20 pm. Most middle schools would start at 9:40 am and end at 4:30 pm.

This closely follows the Transportation Task Force recommendations and provides a solid framework for moving forward. See SLEEP's press release commenting on the latest development.

Later start time advocates still have significant work to do before bell schedule changes can become a reality. One way to help: plan to attend a School Board work session to discuss the latest plan at 3-6:30 pm, Monday, Jan. 12, at Gatehouse Administration Center, 8115 Gatehouse Rd., room 1600, Falls Church.

FCCPTA Survey Finds Overwhelming Parent Support for Later Start Time Plan, June 2008:

The Fairfax County Council of PTAs survey of more than 6,000 Fairfax County parents, conducted during June 2008, found that an overwhelming number support later high school start times as well as a specific proposal recommended by the FCPS Transportation Task Force (TTF) in March. A significant majority (61%) supported the TTF recommendation as proposed and another 24% liked the plan better than the current schedule but wanted some improvements. Only 15% preferred the current schedule to the TTF proposal. Link to the FCCPTA press release as well as the full report on the survey.

Transportation Task Force Proposes New Bell Schedules, March 2008

FCPS Transportation Task Force (TTF) proposes changes in bus service and new bell schedules that achieve beneficial later start times for high school students.

SLEEP Summaries of the Transportation Task Force work are now available: Bell Schedule Proposals and Transportation Service Parameters and Other Recommendations.

To review the complete document, please click on the links below:
The 320 page version: Final Report of the TTF (with Appendices-this is a large, 3.7GB file).
The 24 page Final Report without Appendices.

At the February 2, 2007 budget hearing. Katarina Berger, Lee Pyramid Coordinator, provided a light moment with the poem, Revise the Rule which some School Board members promisedto post in their offices as inspiration.

New web page design thanks to Kelly Midura, a SLEEP volunteer.

Contact SLEEP at sandy@sleepinfairfax.org.