07/10/2026
There’s an excellent opportunity for action around school start times right now! AAPS is collecting community input through July 31 for its next strategic plan. Please take a few minutes to complete this Community Voice Survey:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHbYOhmXgQEmQfHBOuKpYq1tPh2AXlSTcwL6KIUj5lyK3xaQ/viewform
Near the end of the survey they ask: “What is one bold idea or significant change you would make to AAPS if you could?” Below is a suggested response for the question asking the district to include later, healthier school start times as a priority:
“A major gap in AAPS’s approach to student well-being is the district’s continued use of early school start times for middle and high school students. Decades of sleep, adolescent development, and public health research support the recommendation that secondary schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The American Academy of Pediatrics has specifically called for middle and high schools to aim for start times of 8:30 or later.
Early start times contribute to chronic sleep deprivation among adolescents, which is associated with poorer mental health, increased depression and anxiety symptoms, reduced attention and executive functioning, lower academic performance, more tardiness and absenteeism, greater risk of drowsy driving crashes, and negative effects on physical health. Later start times are one of the rare student wellness interventions that can improve mental health, safety, attendance, learning conditions, and academic outcomes at the same time. This issue has enormous implications for student equity. Economically disadvantaged students are most impacted by early start times given their longer commutes and the barriers they face to accessing academic support and health resources to compensate for the chronic sleep loss caused by early school start times.
Hundreds of school districts across the country and in Michigan, including districts of many different sizes, geographies, and transportation systems, have made this change successfully. These districts have all successfully addressed the same challenges AAPS often cites, including transportation, athletics, before- and after-school care, and family schedules.
The Michigan Legislature and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Glenn Maleyko, continue to encourage districts around Michigan to implement start times that protect the health and well-being of our adolescents. Just last month, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a Resolution declaring June 11 as "Sleep Deprivation Awareness Day" and connecting later school start times as a solution to the crisis of teen sleep deprivation across the state.
For years, Ann Arbor Public Schools maintained healthy start times for its students. Not until recent decades did start times in the district shift to early in the morning. AAPS should make later secondary school start times a key priority in the next strategic plan and treat this as a core student health, safety, equity, and academic quality issue.”
Your voice shapes our future. Ann Arbor Public Schools is building a strategic plan to guide decisions about programs, resources, and student support for the next several years. A strategic plan is a roadmap for the future. It defines what we want to achieve as a school district, identifies our prio...
