Over the past several months, Montgomery County Public Schools have moved forward with a plan to seriously consider changing the high school start time from 7:25 to 8:15. Though the thought of extra time to sleep or extra time to do work may seem like a great idea to people at first, the after-effects of this time change will not be so wonderful for students in the long run.

The first issue is that instead of ending the school day at 2:10 as is the case now, high schools would end at 3:00, which is very close to the time that elementary schools in the county currently get out. Though this issue has been, potentially, addressed under Superintendant Dr. Joshua P. Starr’s plan, which includes extending the elementary school day by up to 45 minutes, it still may create some issues with busses and high school students who pick up siblings.

As a result of later end time for high schools, extracurricular activities will be pushed back, which means students will be at school later ¬– even into the evening. For example, during football season, it is not unusual for the football players to finish practice and meetings as late as 7 or 8 o’clock under the current start and end times. Track athletes often find themselves here until around the same time. With a new end time, do we expect to see these young people at school until close to 9 or 10 pm? This is not a good scenario.

When students, especially those involved in sports or clubs that run late, get home, they are tired. However, many of these students cannot sleep because they have obligations, including homework. Several hours of homework means that these individuals won’t get to bed until 11pm or later.

Similarly, those who have jobs or are thinking about getting one will also be affected by a later school start and end time. Employers like to know that their employees are willing to work a certain number of hours and depend on them to arrive shortly after school ends so they can successfully run their business. If the ending time for high schools changes to 3 pm, this would mean that students would have to push their start time for work back, which calls for later nights at work to fulfill their responsibilities, and tougher scheduling for employers.

A later starting time for high schools is not a good idea at this time. High schools should continue to start at 7:25 and end at 2:10 so that students can go to school, end their day at the normal time, and continue with the system that works just fine for most people. Starting later and ending later would just throw everything and everyone’s schedule off.