NASBE Executive Director Kristen Amundson is quoted on the practical implications of a new pediatrics study that indicates later school start times are better for kids’ health and academic achievement.
In an Associated Press story: “Pediatrician’s RX for Schools: Later Start Times” by Lindsey Tanner
“‘The issue is really cost,’ said Kristen Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
School buses often make multiple runs each morning for older and younger students. Adding bus drivers and rerouting buses is one of the biggest financial obstacles to later start times, Amundson said. The roughly 80 school districts that have adopted later times tend to be smaller, she said.
After-school sports are another often-cited obstacle because a later dismissal delays practices and games. The shift may also cut into time for homework and after-school jobs, Amundson said.”
In Marketplace: “High School Will Keep Starting Too Early. Here’s Why.” by Dan Weissman
“School boards often hear objections about disruptions at the other end of the school day: Kids getting home really late from sports practice or chess club. Or not being able to work after-school jobs.
The big issue — the expensive issue — is transportation, says Kristen Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Amundson is a former member of the school board in Fairfax County Virginia, which is ground zero for debates on school start times.
The debate started there when Amundson was serving, back in the 1990s; buses were the sticking point.
How school districts make school buses pay is, you basically use the equipment as much as you can,’ Amundson says.”