PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Some Palm Beach County School District students wake up early to get to school on time. High school starts at 7:30 a.m., elementary school begins at 8 a.m. and some middle schools as late at 9:30 a.m.
Could children perform better in school if they rested more with later school start times?
A grandmother said, "I think that it would be beneficial for middle school and high school kids."
WPTV spoke with Dr. Jaime Marchand, a pediatrician in the emergency room at Palm Beach Children's Hospital.
"The unfortunate benefits of being sleep deprived for a long time it can lead to personality changes, it can lead to depression it could lead to dietary issues," he said.
Recently, the Miami-Dade County Schools announced they would look at options for a later school start next year. Palm Beach County School Board member Erica Whitfield said via phone, that she will bring this topic up in the next school board meeting.
"One of the things that we know from research is that when students get up so early in the morning, it's really not good for their health, it doesn't help them to do better on academic testing."
Whitfield says there are challenges to later start times.
"There's a lot of concern about just really how do we afford it with the busing schedule and then also the athletic schedule," Whitfield said.
