A common stereotype associated with teenagers is immense amount of sleeping. While many may correlate this to teens possessing too much free time or general laziness, studies show it may be because they do not receive an adequate amount of sleep in order to function to their full ability.

According to a recent CNN study, middle and high schools that start later in the day tend to have students with less daytime sleepiness, fewer tardies, fewer attention span difficulties and better academic performance.

Taking these studies into consideration, the Fenton School Board is researching the idea of a later start time rather than the usual 7:45 a.m. The idea is still in the infancy stage, and pros and cons are being weighed.

“I think it would be a good idea. I think it’s good for high school students. I think the research shows that if you start later, you can focus better and longer,” Principal Mark Suchowski said. “There will be some obvious challenges if we were to entertain that possibility in this district, but overall I think it would be good for students and open possibilities for them. Research shows that kids who start later tend to have higher attendance rates and scores on tests and quizzes.”

Because this would be a large shift in the everyday process of the school, students are also debating the idea.

“I think starting school later would be a good idea,” junior Brooklyn Mathews said. “I never get enough sleep during the school year, and I can see that my classmates don’t either. If we started later there would be much less time spent sleeping in class or waiting to get out and more on paying attention and focusing.”

The late start idea comes with perks and disadvantages in terms of functionality and how the change would affect the working of the school day.

“I think starting later would be a horrible idea,” junior Maddy Withers said. “There would be no free time. By the time we got home and settled in, it would be 5 p.m., and that is only if you don’t have any type of practice or after school activity, that’s ridiculous.”

The idea most often voiced as a potential conflict is issue of transportation of students to school. With a large number of working parents, the late start day schedule would conflict with work and might cause havoc with something as simple as a student getting a ride to school.

“A late start day for high school students creates a busy day for a transportation department,” former bus transportation director Barbara Bunker said. “To maintain costs at their current levels, grade 6- 8 would need to be on the same high school schedule, and other programs we transport after school begins would need to be rescheduled. Also, considerations would need to be made for students attending Genesee Area Skill Center, the AST program, and athletic events after school. Which leads me to ask, will this be a county wide schedule?”

If this proposed schedule change becomes reality, the need to collaborate even more extensively with other school districts will become a necessity. If this is not taken on as a county, it could become troublesome for neighboring districts because of the fact that games may need start later than they are currently scheduled.

“If school starts later, that would mean athletics would go later into the day and this would take away time to focus on academics. Along with starting later, this would just give students an excuse to stay up later resulting in the same amount of sleep,” senior Connor Kovacs said. “This would also negatively impact other districts due to the time they would have to wait to begin sporting events and the time they got to bed without having more time to sleep in.”

According to members of the Board of Education, student opinions would be considered as they continue their research of this possible schedule change.