To improve academic performance and student health, Clark County School District (CCSD) is gathering community input to possibly change school start times by half an hour.

The community-wide survey opened on September 26 about a month for students, parents, and employees to share their opinions.

“[Later start times] would have been helpful in past years. I know a lot of people say, well, what about sports? If we actually moved start times later, sports could take place in the mornings when it wasn’t so hot, which would be nice,” Principal Donna Levy said. “I know people ask about teenage jobs, to which I say that opens up the number of hours. You could work later because you’re not so tired getting up so early. So it’s almost a wash in all those areas.”

If school start times are moved, elementary schools would start at 9:30 a.m, middle schools at 8:30 a.m. and high schools at 7:30 a.m.

“We will probably still open at the same time and teachers [will probably] come in at the same time,” Levy said. “It may just move the time that teachers have to meet with students earlier in the day instead of later. It would probably be 7:30 a.m. – 1:55 p.m. instead of 7 a.m. – 1:25 p.m.”

Some members of the student body are in favor of the proposal.

“Students can get more sleep in the morning and that is probably healthier for them,” sophomore Savvy Mae Leung said. “I think I feel like it would help [for] sports too, like a lot of people have to rush after school because they start at a certain time, such as practice, so they would have to rush [to] go home and change.”

Other members of the student body are not in favor of the proposal.

“Even though 30 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot in the mornings, for students with busy schedules that half an hour can mean a lot when teens just want to wind down for a bit before having to jump back into studying or working their job,”  junior Stacey Vo said. “In my opinion, just a little bit more sleep isn’t worth sacrificing my alone time after school.

However, some are unsure of the change, such as Biology teacher Christopher Simon. 

“I don’t think it’s going to accomplish what they’re hoping to accomplish,” Simon said. “I’m not sure it’s actually worth implementing if we [had to] kick every grade back half an hour. It’s not like kids are going to go ‘Wow, it’s really important that I go ahead and get that extra half hour of sleep.’ They’re just going to adjust it on the other end. It’s just a shift, not a change.”

The shift in start times may also negatively impact teenage jobs and extracurricular activities.

“I know this school doesn’t have sports, but you have a ton of clubs and programs,” Simon said. “Half an hour later on that means those kids are now half an hour later into their clubs and activities. And now you’re starting to cut into more and more of that after-school family time, as well as, seniors and juniors’ work time.”

With later start times, after-school events will start later. During the 2026 school year, after school clubs and activities have begun at 2 p.m. and end at 4 p.m.

“The only difference I would say is instead of events beginning at 2 p.m., they would likely begin at 2:30 p.m.,” BSU Assistant Director of Events Hellen Beyene said. “I believe that there might be a difference in engagement since students [may] have more energy.”

Members of the student body who view the push for later start times as a benefit believe that student success would increase.

“I think pushing the start time back 30 minutes [has] a positive impact,” Beyene said. “Especially in my instance an extra 30 minutes of sleep or time to get ready would benefit me in ways I cannot even explain.”