Earlier this year, the Board of Education made the decision to push back start times for high schools in the Salt Lake City School District. School now starts an hour later, and release times are different as well.

I asked a few West High students about their opinion on West’s new start times. Overall, students who had attended West when school began at 7:45 preferred starting school at 8:45, and students who hadn’t attended in previous years also preferred starting school at 8:45 over their previous school’s starting time. Most felt that they were able to get more rest and have more time to get ready because school starts at a later time. Others mentioned that they live out of boundaries and now have more time to get to school. One student that I interviewed, who was a student at West when school began an hour earlier, stated that in previous years they were always tired but now they feel better rested when starting school. Another student mentioned that they’re now a lot more productive during their first period.

There were some mixed feelings regarding the later release time that’s a result from having a later start time. Though one student likes starting classes at 8:45, they do not feel that it is worth having a later release time because there isn’t as much to do after school due to some places closing before school ends. There was also a student who stated that having a later release time limits the amount of time they have for their sports activities and can mess up the schedules of other students who do extracurriculars. However, they still think a later start time is a benefit for students that do not have extracurriculars after school.

Overall, it seems that students are happy when it comes to starting school an hour later. This later start allows students to have more time in the morning and get more rest. Having school start at 8:45 has been beneficial for many students.