EDITORIAL: Schools can override Brown's start-time veto

Sept. 28--Sleep-deprived adolescents will get no relief after all, at least not from Gov. Jerry Brown. He vetoed a bill that would have mandated later school starting times for middle- and high-schoolers.

Brown called the bill a "one-size-fits-all" approach and said it would be better to continue to allow school systems to determine their own starting times. That also was the view of the California School Boards Association and the California Teachers Association

Meanwhile, numerous medical experts continue to stress the importance of adequate sleep for schoolchildren. Studies have found that adolescents need a good nine hours of sleep every night and, because of shifting biological rhythms, earlier bed times don't work well for teenagers. Their growing bodies need to sleep in a bit.

According to a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, later school times lead to lasting benefits. "Not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance," the CDC says.

The National Sleep Foundation also stresses the consequences of sleep deprivation for youth, calling the consequences "particularly serious."

The foundation notes, "Young people who do not get enough sleep night after night carry a significant risk for drowsy driving; emotional and behavioral problems such as irritability, depression, poor impulse control and violence; health complaints; tobacco and alcohol use; impaired cognitive function and decision-making; and lower overall performance in everything from academics to athletics."

Start times no earlier than 8:30 a.m. have proven to lead to better, longer sleep for teens, resulting in higher achievement scores, increased attendance rates, fewer disciplinary actions and overall healthier students better equipped to learn and succeed later in life.

Brown shouldn't have vetoed this legislation, which was debated at length during the legislative session. Arguments by opponents that later start times would inconvenience parents and later dismissals would interfere with extracurricular activities or after-school jobs weren't persuasive given the overwhelming benefits.

Yet the governor is correct in one aspect: Local districts can choose to make this change on their own. And they should.

Most of those challenges can be overcome by school officials and parents willing to think creatively. Just because waking up at the crack of dawn was good enough for them doesn't mean it should be good enough for today's teens.

For example, some schools use the same fleet of buses for elementary schools and middle and high schools. Later start times could complicate that and even require the expensive purchase of more buses. (Though in some places across the country, districts solved that by starting grade school earlier, which has its own set of concerns, including young students standing at bus stops before the sun comes up.)

Resolving these issues won't necessarily be easy, and there may be objections from parents and teachers that will have to be overcome. Many districts won't choose to take on these headaches (which is why the mandate Brown vetoed was important).

But the science is clear: Sleep for teens is important, and an 8:30 a.m. start time is the best way to help them get enough.

You can send a letter to the editor at letters@pressdemocrat.com

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