Later School Start Time To Be Discussed At Chatham Board Of Education Meeting

CHATHAM, NJ — The School District of the Chathams’ Board of Education plans to continue its dialogue about a possible later start time for its high school students at Monday night's meeting.

The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in Chatham High School's auditorium, with a virtual livestream here.

According to the Board of Education's agenda, Superintendent Michael LaSusa is expected to provide an update during the meeting on school start times. He said that most sleep experts recommend an 8:30 a.m. start time for high school students. Chatham High School currently begins its day for students at 7:40 a.m.

LaSusa last discussed the topic in December, with the topic ongoing for the last few years. The pandemic sidelined discussion prior to that in the spring of 2020.

"Adolescents need more sleep than adults and an early start time can have negative consequences," LaSusa said at the December meeting.

Chatham’s plans to possibly go with a later start time aligns with many districts nationwide, which are starting middle and high schools later in the morning, LaSusa said.

The plans to change additionally comes from student surveys, which found Chatham’s students — especially male — between grades 6-12 are sleeping less and less.

Find out more here about the December discussion. See Monday’s agenda here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.