Advocates are urging the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to push back school start times next year to give students more time for sleep.
The Capital reports that about 50 people appeared before the school board last week to seek later school start times. Parents, teachers, students and medical professionals testified on the issue.
Members of the Start School Later group want class to start no earlier than 8 a.m., and they say students should not be on school buses any earlier than 7 a.m. Earlier this year, more than 2,000 people signed a petition calling for later class times in the county.
School officials say changing high school times would affect transportation for elementary and middle school students and would cost more money to hire more bus drivers.
The advocates in Anne Arundel aren't the only group in the area pushing for later start times. In Fairfax County, parents and students have been arguing in favor of them for several years.
