Portsmouth middle and high schools get later start time

On Tuesday the Portsmouth School Board voted 8-1 to start middle and high schools an hour later next year.

All schools will all have a start time around 8:30 AM.

Supporters point to scientific evidence that shows adolescents need more sleep than adults and tend to fall asleep later. 

As Erin Hiley Sharp, an assistant professor of human development and family studies at the University of New Hampshire, testified in April, “Waking a teen at 7 a.m. is biologically similar as waking up an adult at 4 a.m.”

Opponents are concerned about the cost of additional buses and bus monitors now that all of the schools will start around the same time.  The extra buses alone will cost around $150,000.

The schools will also have to reorganize after school activities to accommodate later end times.