The Culver City School Board meeting of Sept 24, 2019 saw the presentation of a parent led petition on for a ‘later start time’ to be presented, while SB 328, the bill on later start times, has already passed the Assembly in Sacramento.
The petition, offered by ‘CCHS Parents in Support of a Later Start Time’ leaders Lila Swenson and Jeffrey Cowan, garnered almost 200 signatures from local parents.
For CCUSD to shift the high school to begin the day at 8:30, and the middle school at 8 am will mean shifting a lot of things.
While the evidence, backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control, shows that teenagers do physically need to sleep later, the challenge in taking on such a major cultural change is formidable.
Swenson noted, “We think this is very important, for the physical and emotional health of our children.”
School Superintendent Leslie Lockhart offered “If it were just about changing one thing, that’s simple. But the later start time will effect so many things; it’s not simple.”
To that end, the district will be releasing a survey this coming week to ask the community to voice their perspective on making the change.
If Gov. Newsom signs the bill, the question won’t be if, but how. And how soon do we start?
Judith Martin-Straw
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