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8 Cosponsors:
9 Marsha Judkins
Carol Spackman Moss
Steve Waldrip
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11 LONG TITLE
12 General Description:
13 This concurrent resolution encourages school districts and charter schools to consider
14 the possible benefits and consequences of a later start to the school day for high
15 schools.
16 Highlighted Provisions:
17 This resolution:
18 ▸ encourages school districts, charter schools, and school community councils to
19 consider the possible benefits and consequences of a later start to the school day for
20 high schools.
21 Special Clauses:
22 None
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24 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
25 WHEREAS, the majority of adolescents are sleep deprived at school;
26 WHEREAS, research indicates that the natural biological rhythms of adolescents are a
27 poor fit with early school start times and that most adolescents get their best sleep between the
28 hours of 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.;
29 WHEREAS, only a few Utah high schools start the school day after 8:00 a.m.;
30 WHEREAS, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association,
31 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and over a dozen major medical organizations,
32 including the American Psychological Association all recommend that high schools start no
33 earlier than 8:30 a.m.;
34 WHEREAS, an average of only 10% of adolescents get the recommended 9.25 hours of
35 sleep each night and the Center of Disease Control's 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed
36 that 75.4% of U.S. high school students get fewer than 8 hours of sleep and 43% get less than 6
37 hours of sleep on school nights;
38 WHEREAS, environmental factors such as homework, extracurricular activities, social
39 activities, part-time work, and technology exacerbate the tendency for adolescents to decrease
40 sleep time;
41 WHEREAS, the National Sleep Foundation reports that 20 to 30% of high school
42 students sleep at least once a week during class and 14% are tardy due to oversleeping;
43 WHEREAS, research identifies numerous consequences and impacts on adolescent
44 brain development associated with sleep deprivation, including lack of attention to learning
45 tasks, poor retention of information taught, low grades, increased risk of auto accidents,
46 increased disciplinary problems, impaired judgment, increased suicidal thinking, increased
47 levels of anxiety and depression, decreased motivation, increased substance abuse, and other
48 negative consequences;
49 WHEREAS, sleep loss in adolescents has been associated with increased risk of
50 obesity, eating disorders, and cardiovascular morbidity which are likely to lead to increasingly
51 poor health as adolescents progress to adulthood;
52 WHEREAS, the need to start the high school day later is a public health concern;
53 WHEREAS, a comprehensive national study by the RAND Corporation on the
54 economic impacts of delaying the start of school to at least 8:30 a.m. found that the benefits of
55 a later start time far outweigh the immediate costs to implement later school start times and
56 that a nation-wide delayed start time would generate an estimated economic gain of $8.6 billion
57 to the U.S. economy after just two years and potentially $83 billion after just ten years resulting
58 from improved academic performance and decreased mortality rates as a result of a decrease in
59 the number of car crashes;
60 WHEREAS, research indicates that later school start times for high schools result in
61 fewer car accidents, increased academic performance, fewer disciplinary referrals, improved
62 mental health and athletic performance, reduced weekend oversleep, increased number of
63 adolescents getting adequate sleep, and increased total sleep time;
64 WHEREAS, a major multi-state study conducted by researchers at the University of
65 Minnesota and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked later high school
66 start times with significant decreases in adolescent substance abuse, depression, and
67 consumption of caffeinated beverages;
68 WHEREAS, a study of secondary schools in Seattle found that delaying the school start
69 time by an hour resulted in an increased daily median sleep time and an increase in the median
70 grades among participating adolescents with a larger impact on adolescents from economically
71 disadvantaged families;
72 WHEREAS, the Seattle study also found that later school start times resulted in
73 increased punctuality and attendance, especially among economically disadvantaged students,
74 and could have a significant impact on decreasing the learning gap between low and high
75 socioeconomic groups;
76 WHEREAS, research indicates that later school start times have a minimal impact on
77 participation rates by adolescents in extracurricular activities;
78 WHEREAS, the community can support parents and families to ensure that adolescents
79 get appropriate sleep by adjusting school schedules;
80 WHEREAS, even small changes to the start time for high schools can result in
81 significant improvements to the health and academic performance of adolescents; and
82 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes local control and that Utah's school districts and
83 charter schools are responsible for school schedules and start times:
84 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
85 Governor concurring therein, encourages school districts and charter schools, in consultation
86 with their respective school community councils, to consider the possible benefits and
87 consequences of a later start to the school day for high schools.
88 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the State Board
89 of Education, the State Charter School Board, and each school district and charter school in
90 Utah that serves students in grades 9 through 12.