Nyah Simpson
New schedule raises student concern Nyah Simpson It’s common knowledge that high school students don’t get enough sleep. Many believe that this is due to how early schools start. Carlmont’s current schedule is a zero through a six-period schedule that goes from 8 a.m to 3:15 p.m, with two block days. Next year, the schedule will be somewhat different, going from one through seven, from 8:30 a.m to 3:45 p.m; the two block days will remain. This is ironic because, in the school’s effort to allow students to start later, the majority end up starting earlier. With the current schedule, the 8 a.m start time applies to less than half of the school, meaning that only about 783 out of the 2,216 students at Carlmont are on campus at 8 a.m. The remaining 1433 students can start 50 minutes later. Studies have shown that high school students are deprived of vital sleep hours due to the workload given by their classes. It would make sense that schedules with later start times are better for the students than earlier ones. Many schools in California have
early start times, some even earlier than ours. To amend this issue, California lawmakers passed California Senate Bill 328 in 2019, which states that any middle school cannot start before 8 a.m, and no high school can start before 8:30 a.m. This must be implemented in schools by the end of 2022. This is a beneficial change for other schools and for Carlmont students who have a zero period. However, for the majority of students, such change is an annoyance; they would have to get to school 20 minutes earlier. In the small town of Belmont, there are 20 schools, public and private, spanning from preschool to high school. These schools start at around the same time, 8:30 a.m. As it stands now, the schools’ start times are staggered to alleviate some of the morning traffic. The schools are not separated by much, about five or ten minutes in between, but those few minutes are crucial. Ask any Carlmont student, and they will agree that leaving five minutes later than usual can mean the difference between a 10-minute drive and a
30-minute drive. If the Carlmont start time is moved to 20 minutes earlier, it could result in near gridlock traffic in the mornings, which would cause more students to be tardy to their first period. This new schedule is not bad for everyone; it is great for athletes. During their season, many students have to miss their last period of the day to go to their games. They have to make up for their missed work, which can take more time than just being present in the period itself. With this new schedule, studentathletes can end their day at 2:48 p.m rather than 3:15 p.m. Thus they are missing less school. These changes were implemented to appease this new law yet only ended up helping the minority of students. No matter which way the schedule was implemented, it would be surrounded by controversy. That’s what happens when changes are implemented, some people love it, and some hate it. Many are searching for methods to resolve this issue, and the solution is simple: the student body must deal with change. MAY 2022 HIGHLANDER 21
