Will a 15 minute later start time help students arrive at school on time?

Beginning in the 2022-2023 term, LCPS has announced that 19 high schools in Loudoun County will start later. This is an effort to ensure that students arrive at school on time, safely, so they can be in class for as much time as possible. However the question is: Will it really make an impact?

While the delay is only 15 minutes for PFHS, the idea of school starting later is an exciting prospect for some. “School starting later means I get 15 extra minutes of sleep and that sounds good to me, also, I get to school on time just fine,” said junior Carlota Echeverri. However, a quarter of an hour isn’t very much of a difference from the current schedule.

Not everyone thinks extra time is necessary. After all, 15 minutes won’t impact the routine of students very much. “I’m not against it, but it’s not really gonna change things for me,” said freshman Rebecca Echeverri. 

In addition, it’s hard to believe that the change could be that influential. “I think the 15 [minute] change is pointless because kids are gonna still gonna show up late, and staying later is just gonna mess stuff up,” said junior Maddie Anyanwu. Overall, it doesn’t seem like students think a later start time will have a huge influence on whether or not students will come to school late.

While the idea of school starting later seems like it would be exciting at first, it’s not a big change. If school was starting more like 45 minutes later it might inspire students to come to school on time, but only 15 minutes will not change student schedules very much. However, it remains to be seen whether or not it will improve attendance at LCPS schools.