FCCPTA Website - 2008 Start Time Survey Results

Results of the FCCPTA 2008 School Start Time Survey
Conducted May 30 to July 7, 20008

The results of the FCCPTA Survey on Later School Start Times are now available below. They include a Press Release announcing the study results, a full analysis of the results, a summary of comments from survey participants. and a complete text of all "Improvement" and "General" survey comments submitted by survey participants. Also provided is a copy of the start school survey used to collect the survey data.

Michele Menapace
President
Fairfax County Council of PTAs
www.fccpta.org

1. Start Time Study Press Release Issued September 3, 2008	2. Full Analysis of Survey Results
3. Summary of Survey Participant Comments
4. Improvement Comments - Complete Text of Comments Submitted in Response to Question 5A, "Improvements for Transportation Task Force". Almost 1400 comments were submitted which is why they are broken into three groups: Group 1: May 30, 2008 to June 5, 2008 Group 2: June 6, 2008 to June 14, 2008 Group 3: July 15, 2008 to July 7, 2008	5. General Comments - Complete Text of Comments Submitted in Response to Question 13, "General Comments". Over 2,000 comments were submitted which is why they are broken into four groups: Group 1: May 30, 2008 to June 4, 2008 Group 2: June 5, 2008 to June 19, 2008 Group 3: July 20, 2008 to June 30, 2008 Group 4: July 1, 2008 to July 7, 2008

A Complete Copy of the Start Time Survey Form is Provided Below
The Form Is NOT ACTIVE - It Is Only Provided to Present
An Understanding of the Type of Questions That Were Asked

School Start Time Survey 2008

Explanation: The Fairfax County School Board is looking into the possibility of starting middle and high schools at a later time in the morning so that school schedules would correspond better to children’s sleep cycles. The primary reason for the change would be to improve student health and academic performance.

Background: Here are some items to keep in mind as you take the survey

Bell schedules (start and end times of the school day) are based on using buses to make more than one trip.
Now, buses are used 2 or 3 times each morning, so start times are staggered across three basic time frames.
Elementary schools are in all three time frames from 7:50 am to 9:25 am.
If bell schedules change, elementary schools would still be in all three time frames, but more elementary schools would start between 7:50 am and 8:55 am.
Some elementary schools would still be in the latest time frame, starting between 9:00 am and 9:40 am.

The Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA) would like to know about your student’s school-related habits and your views on this issue. Responses are anonymous. Please submit one survey per household. If you have questions, please contact the FCCPTA School Start Survey Coordinator.

Please start the survey by using your Mouse to indicate if your oldest student in an FCPS school is a boy or girl and then use your mouse to scroll to and answer the other questions for that student. If you have other children in FCPS schools, please answer the same questions for up to two more of them, if appropriate. Then follow the instructions provided for the other parts of the survey.)

PART I: GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT ONE OR MORE OF YOUR CHILDREN
WHO ATTEND AN FCPS SCHOOL

	Oldest Student	Student # 2	Student # 3
Is your student a Boy or Girl?	Boy Girl	Boy Girl	Boy Girl
What SCHOOL does your child attend? (2007-08)
What GRADE is your Child in? (2007-08)
What time does your child usually FALL ASLEEP on SCHOOL nights?
What time does your child usually FALL ASLEEP on WEEKEND nights?
What time does your child usually GET UP in the MORNING on SCHOOL days?	Ex: 8:15	Ex: 8:15	Ex: 8:15
What time does your child usually GET UP in the MORNING on WEEKENDS?	Ex: 8:15	Ex: 8:15	Ex: 8:15
Is it hard for her/him to GET UP on SCHOOL days?	Yes No	Yes No	Yes No
Does she/he eat BREAKFAST on SCHOOL days?	Yes, at Home Yes, at school No	Yes, at Home Yes, at School No	Yes, at Home Yes, at School No
How does she/he usually GET TO SCHOOL in the MORNING? (Select one)
How does she/he usually get home in the AFTERNOON? (Select one)
Answer the next two questions only for elementary school students:
Is she/he in MORNING SACC or other childcare? (check one)	Yes No	Yes No	Yes No
Is she/he in AFTERNOON SACC or other childcare? (check one)	Yes No	Yes No	Yes No

PART II: YOUR OPINION ON SCHOOL START TIMES

(Please use your MOUSE to scroll to and answer questions 1 to 7).

1. Most FCPS HIGH SCHOOLS now start at 7:20 am, with bus pickups starting before 6 am. In your opinion, does the high school day currently start:
Too Early Too Late Just Right No Opinion

2. Most FCPS MIDDLE SCHOOLS now start between 7:20 am and 8 am, with bus pickups starting before 6 am. In your opinion, does the
middle school day currently start:
Too Early Too Late Just Right No Opinion

3. FCPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS start between 7:50 am and 9:25 am. In your opinion, if more elementary schools started between 7:50 and 8:55, the impact on elementary students would be:
Good Bad Neither No opinion

4. Do you rely on a MIDDLE OR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT to provide care for your elementary-aged child?

          Yes, after school
     Yes, before school
     Both before & after school
       No
           Not applicable

4A. If you gave a "Yes" answer to question 4, would it be easy or hard for you to
make changes to accommodate a later middle/high school schedule?

Very Easy

Somewhat Easy

Somewhat Hard

Very Hard

Don't Know/ No Opinion

5. The Transportation Task Force recommended a bell schedule that would have:

Most elementary schools start between 7:50 am and 8:55 am (end between 2:30 and 3:35 pm).
Some would start around 9:20 am (end around 4 pm).
High schools start between 8:35 am and 8:55 am (end 3:15-3:45)
Middle Schools start between 9:20 and 9:40 am (end 4 pm-4:30 pm)

Which of the following statements best reflects your views of that proposed schedule?

A. I like it better than the current schedule and I would support the change.

B. It’s better than the current schedule but still needs improvement.

C. I like the current schedule better.

D. No opinion.

5A. If you selected option "B" to question 5 -- you like it better than the current schedule, but think it needs improvement --
what is the most important improvement that you would suggest?

6.   If your oldest child gets to school by CAR please explain why (check all that apply).
If your oldest child doesn't get to school by car, TAB to question 7.

More time to sleep

Bus stop safety concern

Bus ride too long

Bus pickup too early

Choice/doesn't want to ride bus

Nice to have time together

Bus too crowded

Student needs car after school
      Not Eligible for school bus

                        Other reason

7. If your ELEMENTARY SCHOOL must either start at about 8:00 am (ending at 2:40 PM) or at about 9:30 am,
(ending at 4:10 PM) because of bus schedules, which would you prefer?

8:00 am start time (bus pickups from about 7:10 am to 7:45 am)

9:30 am start time (bus pickups from about 8:45 am to 9:15 am)

Not applicable (No children in elementary school)

No opinion

(If YOU have children in "high school", please use your MOUSE to scroll to and answer
questions 8 through 12. If not, please use your MOUSE to scroll to question 13.)

PART III: QUESTIONS ON HIGH SCHOOL START TIMES
(Please answer questions 8 through 12 for your oldest high school student).

8. Does your high school student work? Yes No

If "Yes", go to question 8A. If "No", go to question 9.

8A. Would a later school day conflict with a current job held by your high school student? Yes No

8B. Does your family depend on this student’s income? Yes No

8C. Would it be easy or hard to change work hours if the school day ended later?

Very Easy

Somewhat Easy

Somewhat Hard

Very Hard

Don't Know/No Opinion

8D. How many hours per week does she or he usually work? hours. (Fill in number of hours/week)

9. If your high school child takes part in school sports, how many hours does she or he usually spend at practice on school days?

1 hour 2 hours 3 hours 4 or more hours None/doesn’t play school sports

10. Does your child in high school have practices or school activities BEFORE high school?

Yes No Doesn’t participate in extracurricular activities or sports.

11. In your opinion, should the school system LIMIT WEEKDAY high school sports practices?

No limits Yes: 1 hour on weekdays Yes: 2 hours on weekdays
Yes: 3 hours on weekdays Yes: 4 hours on weekdays No opinion

12. How much sleep do you think teenagers need on average a night? hours.

13. Comments on school start times are welcome are appreciated:

PART IV: STATISTICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR FAMILY

(So that we know how diverse a sample of families we've been able to reach through
this survey, please use your MOUSE to scroll to and answers the to following questions.)

14. What is your approximate total annual family income (check only one):

$50,000 or less/year 50,000--$100,000/year More than $100,000/year

15. Your Family's race/ethnicity (check all that apply):

White, non-Hispanic Black/African-American Middle Eastern Hispanic/Latino
Asian/Asian-American Other

(When you've finished entering information click the "SUBMIT" button below to send it. Please only click
the button ONCE - it sometimes takes a few seconds for the data to be transmitted. THANK YOU!)

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