Work Group Formed to Consider Later School Start Times

An online petition to start county public high schools at 8:15 a.m. already had collected more than 10,000 signatures by Wednesday morning, Dec. 12.

Montgomery County public school parents and students are speaking up about school start times, and the county's school superintendent is responding. An online petition, "Changing Montgomery County, MD's High School Start Times to 8:15 AM or Later," has asked the county school board to "officially recognize the large and compelling body of research regarding teen sleep and academic achievement," and "to start high schools in Montgomery County, MD, after 8:15 [a.m.]." On Tuesday, Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr announced that a work group has been established to study the issue. That will come as good news to the petition's signers, who already numbered more than 10,000 by 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12. "Sleep deprivation, with such …

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