Tenafly considers delaying school start time

Students at Tenafly schools may soon to able to get a little more sleep before the start of the school day. The Tenafly School District currently has a start time of 7:55 a.m., but officials are considering

News 12 Staff

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Jun 2, 2015, 4:33 AM

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Updated 3,394 days ago

Students at Tenafly schools may soon to able to get a little more sleep before the start of the school day.

The Tenafly School District currently has a start time of 7:55 a.m., but officials are considering delaying the start time to as late as 8:30 a.m. It is an idea that has many Tenafly students excited.

"There are some nights, when I have a bunch of tests, I will have to stay up until around 2 a.m.," says sophomore Ryan Welch.

Welch says sometimes he is only able to get a few hours of sleep on those days.

Other students say they could use the extra time in the morning.

"If I have a test I need to study for, I can wake up early and get half an hour to review," says sophomore Stephen Soussou.

The National Sleep Foundation says most teenagers need eight to 10 hours of sleep. However, according to a study it conducted, only 15 percent reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.

The foundation also says that the biological sleep and wake cycles of teens tend to shift later in the night, which might explain why they're not be able to fall asleep before 11 p.m.

The Tenafly School District still has to make a final decision about whether or not to delay the start time.