There is a great deal of research available that shows secondary school students greatly benefit with later school day starting times, allowing for more sleep before the beginning of the school day. As a result, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) school district is in the early stages of exploring what is described as “flipping” school day start times, with younger students starting the day earlier and secondary students starting school later in the morning.
Administrators are also looking into shortening the student day in HSE Schools. Assistant Superintendent Jan Combs says HSE students have the longest student day in Hamilton County and one of the longest in the entire state.
“At the elementary, we are currently 75 minutes over what the state requires,” Combs told the school board Wednesday night. “We are looking at maybe a model that would cut 15 minutes. At the secondary, we are 50 minutes over what the state requires. We’re looking at a model that might cut 20 minutes.”
No school officials were able to clearly explain how HSE Schools ended up with so many class minutes over state requirements.
Superintendent Allen Bourff intends to conduct community meetings to gather public input on the “flipping” of school day start times and reducing the number of minutes in class each day. Dr. Combs said the goal is to have a decision by early in the second semester of the current school year, with implementation of any changes to begin in the fall of 2020.
“We’re in the very, very early stages of these conversations,” said Combs.