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JCPS staff present preliminary research on school start times; no change mandated for 2025-26
Summary
District researchers told the Jefferson County Board of Education that national evidence links later start times to more sleep and some health and safety benefits but that local JCPS outcome data are preliminary and mixed. Board members asked for more local surveys of parents and teachers before any decision for 2026–27.
Superintendent Marty Polio opened a board work session presentation on Feb. 25 by saying the research briefing was meant to begin a roughly 10‑month conversation about start times for the 2026–27 school year and would not change the district's 2025–26 start times.
JCPS researchers summarized peer‑reviewed national studies and preliminary local analyses. Dr. Chung Fisher, an evaluation specialist in JCPS' research department, told the board that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have advised that start times earlier than 8:30 a.m. contribute to insufficient sleep for adolescents. "Just a small delay of 30 minutes or so can result in a significant increase in sleep duration," Fisher said, and noted studies linking later start times to reduced disciplinary referrals and fewer teen driving crashes.
At the same time, researchers and presenters cautioned the board that findings are mixed. A JCPS staff presenter said local outcome data through the first semester showed some elementary schools that moved to later start times had reductions in chronic absenteeism and stable or improved behavior referrals, but the larger pattern across elementary, middle and high schools was inconclusive. "In general, there's not a lot of clear evidence that any specific start time is associated with better student outcomes," a JCPS researcher said.
Why it matters: the board will decide district start times for 2026–27 in October 2025 if it chooses to act. Several board members pressed for more local engagement before any change: Miss Duncan asked whether other districts start elementary schools as late as 9:40 a.m.; researchers said a few districts had start times after 9:30 but that a 9:40 elementary start is very late nationally. Mr. Everett and others urged a teacher survey; researchers said staff surveys could be done and recommended a second year of transfer/retention data to reduce uncertainty.
Local context and logistics: presenters noted JCPS has modified start times several times in recent years (two start times in 2022–23, three start times currently) in response to bus‑driver shortages. JCPS staff said about 57% of the district's secondary schools begin after 8:30 a.m. and that the district removed roughly 10,000 students from buses this year—figures staff used when describing transportation constraints that shape start‑time options.
Board direction and next steps: board members asked staff to survey parents and teachers and to provide additional semesters of local data. Superintendent Polio and staff said the presentation was intended to give the board more runway; staff will return with additional analysis and stakeholder information ahead of any formal decision for 2026–27.
Ending: board members agreed to continue studying the issue. The presentation was positioned as preliminary research and local data review rather than a decision paper; Polio reiterated that the board had already set start times for 2025–26 and that any change would be considered over the coming months ahead of an October 2025 decision.
