On January 20, 2026, Clark County School District (CCSD) officially adjusted the school start times for elementary, middle and high school students, which will take effect on the first day of the 2026-2027 school year, August 10, 2026. Jhone Ebert, the recently elected Superintendent of CCSD, changed the start times based on a variety of studies. High school students will start at 8:30 a.m., middle school students will start at 7:30 a.m., and elementary school students will start at 9:15 a.m..
Ebert justifies the decision on research, sharing a common misconception “teenagers aren’t lazy in the morning, they’re just biologically wired to stay awake later and wake up later.” Mental health, academic performance, and graduation rates all increase depending on the amount of sleep teenagers enjoy every night. With the later start times, high school students will find challenging themselves easier, considering the extra hour and a half of sleep or time to prepare for the day. With higher engagement throughout the day, high school students’ will focus more on assignments and grades rather than worrying about their sleep schedule.
CCSD shared a one page document summarizing their research that revealed their different sources. The district cited the Seattle school district and their adjustment of school start times in 2016, providing students with an half-hour extra to sleep. One of the document’s sources explain that “a teen’s brain is still in a state of “biological sleep” at 7:00 AM, so waking them then is physiologically equivalent to waking an adult at 4:00 AM.” CCSD high school students currently wake around 5:30 a.m. to arrive at school around 7:00 a.m, equivalent to waking around 2:30 a.m. for adults…