The nationwide trend of later school start times reached another area district as neighboring Owen J Roberts’ school board approved moving back the start times for their schools Jan. 22.

The district began discussing this change early last school year, citing studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics that showed students who start later display better behavior, academic performance, and have improved mental and physical health.

This switch will have high school and middle school students starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 2:45 p.m., and the lower grades starting 20 minutes earlier at 8:50 and ending at 3:30.

Some district parents swiftly criticized the move, though, saying the change inconveniences them when it comes to morning care for younger grades. Another aspect of their criticism is that their children who play sports will be missing an extra half hour of instruction when they have to leave class early to attend away games.

Despite parent concerns, the later start time actually puts OJR more closely in line with  an increasing number of other districts across Pennsylvania.

OJR is not the only local district that has pushed start times back. In 2019, Phoenixville Area School District announced that they would be pushing the start time for high school and middle school students by 45 minutes, making the start time 8:05. In addition to Phoenixville, the School District of Philadelphia announced in 2022 that all high schools in the city would start instruction at 9 starting in the 2022-23 school year. These times more closely align with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended start time.

As for a potential shift in start time for Spring-Ford, the district looked into a shift in start times in late 2019 during a town hall held by the School Board, but no further action was taken.

Superintendent Bob Rizzo spoke on Spring-Ford’s perspective on pushing start times back after OJR’s move, saying, “I wouldn’t say our stance has or hasn’t changed, just that it is information that is useful to us as we consider what a shift might look like for us.”

Some Spring-Ford students seem to be in support of changing the start time.

“I believe a later start time would help us students get better sleep and be able to focus more each day,” said sophomore  Abby Gabr. “This would also help improve our performance in our school work and our mental health as well.”

Others disagree, however, and the debate continues across the country.