SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – High schools in the Salt Lake City School District will postpone their start times by one hour when they go back to school in the fall of 2021.
Yándary Z. Chatwin, Executive Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Salt Lake City School District tells ABC4 the Utah Board of Education voted to make the time change on Tuesday. “It was a unanimous vote,” Chatwin shares with ABC4.
The Salt Lake City School District has three traditional high schools – East, West, and Highland – and one alternative high school, the Horizonte Instruction and Training Center. Starting fall 2021, the four schools will start at 8:45 a.m., Chatwin tells ABC4.
The decision to postpone the start time of high schools by one hour was based on research that collected data on sleep in adolescents and the amount they need to best benefit them.
As of now, Chatwin says the high schools will be the only school to postpone its start time by one hour.
She says more research may be done down the road and information will be shared with students and parents as decisions are made. Chatwin says due to bus schedules for the district, time changes for elementary and middle schools might change slightly but nothing has been confirmed yet. All official start times are dependent on finalizing bus routes. “Start times for the rest of the school have not been finalized,” Chatwin adds.
ABC4 News will follow this story. Information will be updated as it becomes available.
