While schedules have changed this year by extending classes an extra five minutes for additional student learning time, the switch will be made once more for students and faculty members. The switch in time changes consist of school  having to start during the time period of 8 AM – 8:30 AM. Some may think that there is good to be derived from this place of change; others find it impractical.

Coming from a place of logic, topics such as sports, school events, and sleep time in general are a few of the many things the staff will need to take into consideration. While one might hope that school starting later would encourage students to receive more time to sleep, in reality, students might just go to bed later. Along with sleep, timing is also an issue, mostly having to do with sports and school occasions.

Athletic director Mr. Donoho believes the new time change will become an inconvenience for student athletes. Donoho asserts, “It means that we are going to have to start practice later, possibly games later, and student athletes  will just get home later. If we were to start practices and games at the same time as we currently do, then our student athletes will need to be taken out of school at earlier times, and consequently miss more class time.”

Donoho firmly believes that students will not be using this surplus of time to their advantage; this will not match the intentions of administrators who made this law, hoping the time change will produce more benefits. “Regarding the people who made this new law, I am not sure if they really understand high school students. The new time change will cause students to ultimately go to bed later since they start later the next morning. This will not help students get more sleep. More disruptions will definitely be made”

As Donoho conveys his reasons as to why this switch will not be as beneficial for Don Lugo students, teachers such as Mr. Belloso believe this change will do great justice for a majority of the students. Later start times will give students a chance to adequately prepare for the day ahead. Tasks such as eating, sleeping, or just waking up with the ready-to-work mindset are just some of the several benefits that can be observed.

Mr. Belloso, the AP Human Geography teacher, believes the time change “is likely to benefit our students more so than not. For example, in my first period, numerous students are having a difficult time eating breakfast, and literally just waking up ready for school.” Mr. Belloso believes that this will further push students to do more; to accomplish more before the school day even starts.

While many can see the benefits of new start times,  there are, however, a few issues that Don Lugo can run into as well. For instance, sleep is a choice that many high school students choose to neglect even when knowing they have school early in the morning. With the time moving further back, students will be convinced that they can stay up longer because they have more time in the morning.

Mr. Belloso expresses his concern for the delay of school starting times when claiming that “some students may take advantage of the time change, because if they know that school starts later, then this may cause them go to bed later. Also, in the mornings, students may come to school with more of a relaxed mindset, knowing that they have more time – this could cause an increase in the number of students who are tardy.”

Mr. Belloso and Mr. Donoho, alongside the other Don Lugo faculty, understand that there will need to be some adjustments made for this new time change. As we push the school starting time back nearly an hour later, we are also having to push school dismissal time and after school events another whole hour later as well. In the end, this is an opportunity that we should act upon wisely, rather than choosing to take advantage of the new school starting time.