New Jefferson County School start times announced, will change next fall
In Jefferson County, Colorado's largest school district is shifting start times for its nearly two hundred schools.
High Schools and Middle Schools will shift to a later start time while many of the elementary schools will start early, while the decision comes after years of discussion and community input, it will still be a disruption for many families.
The school district made the announcement in March but just released the times and say the changes are based on research that says pre-teens and teens learn better with more sleep and that early times have little to no impact on smaller children.
"We really want kids to be in school when they are ready to learn," said Jenna Bannon, JeffCo mother and task force member.
The struggles with her teen prompted Bannon, in 2017 to reach out to the Jefferson County School District about the idea of pushing start times back.
Katie Winner had two elementary-age school children at the time and decided to weigh in, she has been co-chair of the task force for nearly six years now.
"Jefferson County is very large and very diverse and has a lot of needs," Winner said
In March of 2022, the district decided they were going to move forward with the change. Dr. Kym Leblanc-Esparza, deputy superintendent in Jefferson County says the research was there.
"School districts over time that made that shift or made that change found an increase in attendance they found an increase in grades and they found higher graduation rates," she said.
The task force was formed to try and piece together how it would work. Both Bannon and Winner say as a group they quickly learned that even a 15-minute change would have a ripple effect on how the entire district operates.
"When you change high school that affects bussing, that affects middle schoolers, that affects elementary schools," Bannon said.
While they had the support of much of the community, they had their own concerns.
"How is athletics going to work? My kid has a job, I have a job," Winner said.
Dr. Kym says all of that factored into the timing of when to shift schedules.
"We knew we would have the entire spring semester to work with staff and families to do any problem-solving we need to do," she said.
While the shift will not fit everyone, the hope is that the "why" behind it will.
"We need to adjust to their needs, instead of asking them to adjust to our needs," Bannon said.
Middle and high schools will shift anywhere from 15 minutes to nearly an hour later and they are still trying to navigate bus driver shortages and after and before-school care with changes.
You can learn more here: https://bit.ly/3gNfAAD
And see a list of High school time changes here: https://bit.ly/3VEi8jd
