Nevada Board of Education to seek input before deciding on changing school start times

Joshua Peguero
·2 min read
2

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The Nevada Board of Education said it will collect more community input before making any decision on pushing back start times for high schools.

On Wednesday, the state board voted unanimously to look at survey questions at its next meeting that it plans to send to community stakeholders.

Nevada Board of Education President Felicia Ortiz and member Tim Hughes both said the group will then review the answers to gauge if there’s enough momentum to propose a bill. That bill would then be sent to Nevada lawmakers.

Dating back to last year, the board of education has held several meetings seeking to push back start times statewide by an hour.

Currently, classes at Clark County School District high schools start at around 7 a.m. The board wants classes to begin at 8 a.m. at the earliest.

“Even if we had the most amazing teacher on the planet teaching at 7 a.m. and the kids are just half asleep, are they really learning?” Ortiz said in response to a member questioning the rule’s intent.

Ortiz has said at previous meetings that several studies show an improvement in mental health and academic performance for students who get an extra hour of sleep.

Yet, the majority of school systems in Nevada oppose this move and say the board is overreaching its authority.

<em>The Nevada Board of Education says it will collect more community input before making any decision on pushing back start times for high schools. (KLAS)</em>
The Nevada Board of Education says it will collect more community input before making any decision on pushing back start times for high schools. (KLAS)

“School start times are a prerogative of the local school districts and as you well know our districts are so different, each district should be able to make that decision. This is not a prerogative of the state board,” Mary Pierczynski of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents said.

Non-voting member Tate Else addressed some concerns he has with the proposal.

“What is our intent? Where are we going with it, because I just worry in the process of trying to do it there will be more unintended consequences,” Else said.

CCSD previously stated that the changes to start times could impact school bus schedules. The district has even threatened a lawsuit if the board moves forward.

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