Weekly Late Starts Will Begin Starting Next School Year

Imagine waking up past 8 a.m., getting ready for school while being energized and enjoying a pleasant morning before heading to Niles West. This happens once a month on late start days. One message coming from the Niles West community is that late starts should happen more frequently than they do already because they are very helpful and good to continue, so this new change for next year brings much hope.

At the school board meeting on March 14, it was intended that members would vote for or against a weekly early release proposal. However, the decision to vote soon changed to be about late starts instead as the board meeting went on. As for the recent meeting, seven board members voted regarding the topic. The final vote was 3-4, and starting next school year, late starts will be implemented on Wednesdays. The decision was made in order to give students more time to get much-needed sleep and for teachers to have the opportunity to meet before school.

Prior to the voting, an early release proposal form was offered on the Niles West Website.

“During the last few years, the Administration has presented to the Board of Education proposals for additional weekly professional development time for teachers and certified staff. The District Evaluation Committee (DEC) which includes an equal number of teachers and administrators appointed by the Union President and Superintendent presented the most recent proposal at the February 7th, Regular Board Meeting,” the website said.

Also posted on the website, it states that the DEC presented a proposal for the implementation of one early release day per week beginning in the 2023-24 school year. The message asks for families to complete the form based on their thoughts. A presentation was also linked. The presentation features graphics with statistics from teachers and staff regarding the proposal.

The Niles West teachers apart of the DEC are Michael Graham, Amy Kaye and Katie Weston. The administrators involved are Sandra Arreguín, Bridget Connolly and Tom Kim. 

The goal for this proposal is, “to increase structured and deliberate professional learning time to accomplish the goals set forth in the D219 strategic plan.” 

Despite the vote passing for late starts, some students find early release schedules to be more convenient and enjoyable.

“I think early release would be very helpful in comparison to late start because it would give students an option to do homework before the next day, letting them enjoy their time off and also helping them focus,” junior Yousuf Zakeria said.

Staff members also agree that early releases are favorable.

“I think a better option, from what I’m hearing we’re talking about, is early release. So, we would have time at the other end of the day to collaborate and do work. Students might even be able to stay later sometimes on those early release days to have meetings,” science teacher Elizabeth Ramseyer said.

“I think they should happen more often and it’s a good way for students to have a break and catch more sleep and its great for staff to prepare. All days would be beneficial except for maybe Mondays,” Lit Center Assistant Reine Hanna said.

Along with praises for early releases, there are also some concerns with the current late start schedule.

“Late starts in the science department don’t work well. We have teachers who teach Early Bird, so the late start is for us to collaborate, it’s not designed for students to come in late. It’s hard for us to collaborate because we have Early Bird classes, so those teachers have to leave, so they can’t even collaborate. It doesn’t work for us because we have double periods on different days of the week and every teacher has a different set of days, it would have to be a rotating day schedule,” Ramseyer said.

However, there are still many students in favor of our current late start schedule.

“I think late starts on Fridays would be best because people are able to catch up on sleep, as well as take their time to eat breakfast. Late starts on Wednesdays would mess up a lot of people’s schedules, such as students who may have to take quizzes every Wednesday. It wouldn’t provide enough time to get through the day, however, Fridays provide a much more easygoing day to ensure a good weekend to follow,” junior Farah Albayati said.

Friday late starts seem to be a preferred choice. But to many, the day does not matter.

“I prefer late starts regardless of the day it is on. I like it because I wake up early to work out and I have more time to do it. But, also, it would relieve some stress from students’ shoulders because they will have more time to rest and get ready for school,” junior Krishna Verma said.

“I think we should have late starts at least once a week. Students should have more sleep and we should start later. And not enough sleep impacts mental health and physical health,” senior Almeera Mushtaq said. 

Along with students, staff also agree that students benefit from late start days.