St. Louis Public Schools presents plan to shift middle and high school start times to about 8:00 and 9:30 a.m.

St. Louis Public Schools officials outlined a proposal and research supporting later bell times for middle and high school students during an online community forum, saying the district is considering moving from a three-tier schedule to two tiers with start times near 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Hanley Chang, a social scientist at Mathematica and an SLPS parent who led the presentation, summarized the scientific rationale: “major medical associations, including, the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend that middle and high schools start later. And by later, they mean 08:30AM or later,” he said, citing biological and empirical evidence linking later starts to more sleep and better outcomes.

The presentation included a prerecorded explanation from Eric Herzog, a biologist at Washington University, who described the brain’s circadian clock: “these 20,000 or so neurons are sort of the atomic clock in our brains,” Herzog said, explaining how adolescents’ delayed melatonin release shifts their natural sleep schedule later than adults’. Chang said that real-world studies back the biology: when Seattle pushed many high schools’ start times roughly 55 minutes later, students’ wake times shifted later and they gained about 34 minutes of sleep on average. He also cited Wake County, N.C., findings that later middle-school start times produced measurable gains in math and reading, and that earlier starts were tied to higher absences and tardies.

Chief Watson summarized the district’s preliminary operational analysis: the current three-tier bell schedule (roughly 7:10 a.m., 8:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.) could be restructured into two tiers with bell times of about 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. ‘‘Those 2 times, 8AM and 09:30AM, are the 2 times that were presented to us by our transportation provider,’’ Watson said, adding that staff will continue to examine whether the gap could be tightened (for example, 8:00 and 9:15) depending on bus availability and route performance.

Forum participants raised concerns about before- and after-school care, students who care for younger siblings, working parents’ schedules, and potential impacts on athletics and career and technical education. Chief Watson and interim Superintendent Doctor Berry said the district will incorporate those operational and equity considerations into its analysis and will expand the survey to accept written feedback and multiple languages. ‘‘We will show all of the different stakeholders and the results’’ at the district’s Feb. 24 work session, Chief Watson said.

On timing, Doctor Berry said the district hopes to produce a formal recommendation to the board by April so the community and staff have May–July to plan for any changes and the district can implement changes for the 2026–27 school year if approved. ‘‘We are hoping to have a recommendation to our board by April,’’ Berry said.

Budget implications were raised repeatedly. Chief Watson said moving from three tiers to two ‘‘means that we would need additional buses, additional drivers, additional staff’’ and acknowledged that the district will need to plan for the operational cost increases. Berry said staff are evaluating electric buses and other fleet strategies that could offset some costs over time and that the district will present more detailed budget implications in later briefings.

Next steps include an updated survey with an option for long-form responses, translations and additional outreach through ParentSquare and school leaders; the district will present survey results and further detail at the Feb. 24 board work session and expects to return with a recommendation by April.

The forum closed with officials thanking parent leaders, communications and technology staff and encouraging residents to participate in the revised survey and upcoming board discussion.