Delayed Start Time For Summit High School? Here's How Readers Feel

SUMMIT, NJ — Summit High School students may be able hit snooze a few more times if New Jersey passes a new bill to make high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

The new bill, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), is a response to the mental health crisis facing teenagers at this time, especially due to the pandemic.

Lawmakers specifically cite a study linking sleep and mental health, which found that teens who attend school earlier in the morning are at a higher risk of experiencing depression and anxiety.

Read more: NJ High Schools Could Start At 8:30 A.M. If This New Bill Passes

Patch asked Summit readers on Facebook how they feel about the high school potentially starting an hour later, and we received many mixed responses.

Here's how some Summit readers responded:

"More sleep is better, but…survey the kids (their responses may surprise you) and encourage parents to parent (e.g. encourage their kids to go to bed earlier and to turn off their cell phone 30 minutes before bed)." — John Harris

"Great idea! Teens need to sleep later." — Edith Wilson

"What about the impact on parents who have to get to work?" — Anna Sank Haselmann

"And when do these kids recover the time lost? They still need a specific number of hours in the classroom, just like 183 required school days. It’s just another tactic to dumb our kids down." — MaryJo Midge

"That’s not fair to high school kids who work after school." — Stephen DeFranco Schuman

"Worth a try." — Mary Dickey

"Great idea. A teen's natural circadian rhythms tend towards late nites and late mornings (just as the elderly rhythm tends towards early nites and early mornings). This makes absolute sense! The practical issue for those of us that actually explore this change, however, is the need for broad-based buy in for what such a timing shift means for after school co-curricular activities. We might be surprised at the existing resistance to making changes to the timing of after school activities. Just saying... Would love to give it a try." — Donna Miller

If passed, the new bill would not go into effect until the start of 2024-25 school year. The legislation would not impact elementary and middle school students.

However, Chatham's school district will push back the start time of all schools next year so students can get more sleep. This includes elementary, middle and high school students.

Will Summit Schools follow suit? Only time will tell.

Do you think Summit students should get more sleep? Comment your thoughts down below.

The poll on Summit Patch Facebook can be viewed here:

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.

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