Photo by Joselyn King Outgoing Ohio County Board of Education member Molly Aderholt, left, board president David Croft and Superintendent Kim Miller discuss school start times during Monday’s board meeting.

WHEELING – Ohio County Board of Education members didn’t vote Monday night on the issue of changing school start times, but Superintendent Kim Miller was charged with further researching the matter.

Start times will not be changed for the upcoming school year, Miller said following the board’s meeting Monday night. She was given no time frame for when to come up with a plan.

The decision took place during the last meeting for board member Molly Aderholt, who has been pushing for later start times at Wheeling Park High School during her eight years as a board member. Aderholt chose not to run for re-election this year and will be succeeded by Ohio County School Service Personnel Association President Jerry Ames.

A committee has been working over the past several months to arrive at a solution to the later start time issue, with supporters asserting that high school students learn better with more sleep and starting school an hour later.

“The current start time (of 7:25 a.m.) isn’t healthy for high school students, but that doesn’t make it an easy fit due to scheduling (and bus transportation),” Board President David Croft said. “A committee has worked very hard over the last couple of years to come up with a few alternatives that the central office has had a chance to consider.”

Miller was asked to consider those ideas and provide thoughts. She acknowledged research supports later start times for high school students, but said they could also create hardships for families.

She explained bus route times first were examined to see if they could be condensed. The school district next contracted with the Edulog software company to re-evaluate routes for efficiency, then later asked the company to evaluate its current start times.

The actions pointed to the need for purchasing more buses and hiring more bus drivers just as the school district is seeking to trim expenses. But the results also provided information that is still being considered, Miller said.

“I would ask the board to allow us the opportunity to look at what we have, and maybe look at smaller increments (of changing the start time) until we get to that piece,” Miller said. “We know at this time it would be a hardship for our families, and we certainly don’t want to disrupt our communities.”

Aderholt noted the committee did come up with some options “that would require little or no investment” by the board.

Many board members supported an option in which elementary students would start the day first and high school students would go later in the morning.

“Ultimately, they thought it would be the least disruptive to have a 30-minute shift (later for all students),” she explained. “There had been some consensus…most people think the high school starts too early. Others think the elementary students should go earlier. These are very good areas of consensus….”

Member Ann Hercules, a retired school service worker, said the current start times “aren’t where we need to be.”

“We need to continue to look for things for our children,” she said. “I have some ideas I can throw out there. We can put the freshmen back at the (middle school level) so they are not up so early. Maybe we could only have homework for 10th, 11th and 12th graders on Fridays so that they are not so stressed during the week….

“These students have jobs now, and they are driving cars. Their input is just as important as the input from the teachers…. I don’t know the answers. But I feel the time change is not going to be the answer. It’s deeper than that.”

Member Andy Garber, a retired principal and member of the start times board, said he has been considering the issue “for a number of years.”

“I do understand the signs and the problems adolescents have,” he said. “Sleep deprivation is a genuine concern.”

But he also thinks changing start times to benefit high school students might negatively affect elementary and middle school students whose schedules would also change.

“I served on the committee to see if there were options…” he said. “All that time we put in to it, and we never came up with a concrete idea that was solid or something we could live with.

“So I’m not in favor of continuing to put money into this research or doing much more work. God bless you, Molly. I appreciate what you’ve done. It was for good reason – these kids.”

Member Bernie Albertini said there was no way to ignore the research that high school students learn better with later start times. He also agreed that the best time to educate elementary students is in the morning.

“I like Dr. Miller’s suggestion of biting off bits and pieces and seeing how it goes,” he said.

The board next meets for a special meeting at 6 p.m. July 6 at the board office in Elm Grove. At that time Croft, Garber and Ames will be sworn in for four-year terms.

The new board’s first regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 13 at the board office.