On Mar. 19, the Edina School Board approved new school start and end times for the 2018-2019 school year. After months of research, community conversations, and school board discussions, the School Board approved the proposal and voted for its implementation this fall.

Currently, the middle schools (Valley View and South View) are in tier one, while five of the six elementary schools (Concord, Creek Valley, Cornelia, Highlands, and Countryside) are in tier three. Tier one schools start at 7:50 AM and end at 2:25 PM, and tier three schools start at 9:20 AM and end at 4:05 PM

However, starting this fall, the elementary schools and the middle schools will switch tiers. This change comes with research suggesting that teenagers require on average 9.25 hours of sleep a night. Yet, due to biological changes, a typical adolescent’s natural time to fall asleep is 11:00 PM or later. Therefore, many students are sleep deprived as they go to bed late and wake up early for school. The high school, Normandale, and Our Lady of Grace will remain in tier two with school start times of 8:30 and 8:40 AM and end times of 3:15 and 3:20 PM. The “Fair Busing Bill” requires the school district to provide busing for nonpublic schools that pull students from across the district such as OLG. Because of OLG’s proximity to Normandale, the most efficient method to transport students who attend these schools is together.

Due to the large difference in the high school and middle school end times, Edina sports that include grades seven and eight may be negatively impacted. “It’s gonna change the way our team looks,” Edina Girls’ Swim and Dive coach Traci Bergo said. The Girls’ ESAD team consists of swimmers and divers from grades seven to twelve. However, next year’s end times will result in their practices being held later in the night. In order to accommodate the schedule change, many other sports will also be modifying their practice schedules. “I think the later times would work better if the release times were closer together, but it’s 50 minutes. If it was closer to 30 or 40 minutes, it’d be easier,”  Bergo said.