The Problematic New Schedule

The+Problematic+New+Schedule

Patrick Chavez, Staff Writer

As many of us at La Jolla High have already heard from the April 18th email sent out by Principal Podhorsky, the schedule for the next school year is planned to start late every day. Allegedly, the school day will start at 8:35 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. and the new schedule has proven to be controversial and problematic to many students, myself included.

With the entire school day being shifted by an hour, this means that not only do we get home an hour later but we must go home through rush hour traffic, extending our days even more. After-school activities will extend some of our days to 5 p.m., not including the drive home. Arriving home at a later time also means that we either get less time to do our homework or we move our bedtime back, shortening our sleep. LJHS junior, Alejandro Loaiza says “I hate the late start because I take the bus home and I won’t be getting back until dark.”The late start would additionally encourage students to stay awake for longer because they think they would be sleeping-in when in reality their day would only be shifted by an hour. While the intention of the new schedule is to give us more sleep, it ironically seems to be doing the opposite with what seems to be a zero or even negative net benefit.

Another important issue with many students at our school, especially the freshmen and sophomores, is transportation. Many students get a ride from their parents before work, however, with this new schedule, parents will be at work and have no way to drop their kids off. This combination of later days and unreliable transportation could be disastrous for many students. “Due to the conflicting time with the elementary school and high school, and their work, my parents will have a very difficult time dropping me off every day” says junior Ethan McQuade. This would most noticeably impact working class families who cannot afford to change their working hours. Additionally, time in the afternoon is more beneficial than time in the morning and so the shift in the day would limit student’s resources such as libraries and tutors.

While students undersleeping is a known issue, the solution to giving students more sleep is not to shift the day later by an hour.