In 2019 California legislators passed a first of its kind law to push back school start times from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The law was passed due to studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which stated an extra hour of sleep a night can help cure chronic teenage sleep loss. 

But how do teenagers themselves feel about the change? When asked about the change senior Angelina Kulick said, “I was first excited about the change but it ended up messing up my schedule as I still get dropped off at 8:00 a.m. due to my dad’s work schedule.” With many students unable to drive themselves to school the schedule change is nothing but an inconvenience to those who have to wait half an hour for class to start in the morning.

What about teachers whose work hours were changed? Math teacher, Mrs. Susan Sciarillo said, “I felt indifferent about the change, as I would still be staying after school daily until around 5:00 p.m. everyday, it didn’t change much.” But when asked about how she felt after adjusting to the schedule she said, “I was happy to have an extra thirty minutes of lesson planning in the morning and started to notice less tardies with the extra time given to get to school.” A positive change in students attendance and the extra boost in lesson planning time bodes well for teachers across California adjusting to the change. 

Lastly, how do parents feel about the sudden change in their children’s lives? Micheal Kulick, father of senior Angelina Kulick said, “I thought eight-thirty start was a bit late to start as most parents are already working by then. But after the first week my work schedule happened to change to coincide with the school schedule changing so I can still drop off my daughter at 8:00 a.m. and then the only downside is that my cats are upset to be fed later than usual.” While the cats at the Kulick house may be upset by the change, Mr. Kulick is happy to have his work schedule lined up just in time to drop off his daughter on campus.