High school students are losing valuable time during their education because they’re tired, according to Benjamin Kim, a student representative on the Prince William County School Board.
Kim pushed for a later start time for high schoolers at the January 22 county School Board meeting. He cited both California and neighboring Fairfax County which both mandate schools begin classes after 8 a.m., he said.
“It’s time to put a foot down and give students a better education — and it starts with later start times,” said Kim. “Science and logic says that it’s better.”
Generally, Prince William County high school students are in session from 7:30 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. Monday through Friday. Kim says that early start times would lead to increased academic performance, better student wellbeing, and would make students safer drivers on area roads.
Kim is also seeking a mental health day for students in the county, where students may take excused absences for the betterment of their mental well being. The Montgomery County, Va. school district voted to implement a such a policy last fall.
“Students struggling with mental health sometimes need a day off,” said Kim.
Kim says he has spoken to counselors at his school and students and they said mental health days would be positive. To combat abuses, the number of mental health days students could take would be capped to prevent students from using them as skip days.
Kim, who attends Stonewall Jackson High School near Manassas, is one of there non-voting members of the Prince William County School Board for the 2019-2020 school year.
