There is now a law in California that schools must start no earlier than 8:30 AM. MUSD has decided to start at 9:00 AM, which then leads to the issue of not ending school until 4:00.  The district doesn’t seem to understand that students have a life outside of school. Getting out of our last class at 4 means sports and other extracurricular activities will start around 4:30 and not get out till 6 or 6:30 PM, if day light savings even permits a routine practice. After practice is over, we go home, eat dinner, shower and then do more schoolwork.  When will we have time for family? When will we have down time?
 
Not only is this bad for students, but it’s also bad for students' families. A lot of parents rely on their kids to pick up their siblings from school but how is that possible when we will be getting out WAY later than elementary! Also, there are some high school students with after school jobs to help support their family, now having to work later or losing jobs that require you to be available during earlier hours. 
 
I do not see any benefit to starting school so late and think it is a HORRID IDEA. There will be no downtime for students which we need for our mental health. Also, families, sports, extra-curricular activities, jobs and our overall well-being will suffer.  So, what’s the benefit of us ending at 4? For us to start later since high schoolers need more sleep?  All it is doing is making high schoolers stay up later and not preparing us for life after high school, when we do not have the option to sleep in.  Ultimately, we will be getting less sleep, and less of a life by us starting and ending later.  An alternative solution would be to start at the earliest available time, which is 8:30 according to the new law.  This will alleviate many of the issues created by a later start and give students more of an opportunity to participate in after school activities, jobs and family life.  Please help me show MUSD that they need to reconsider our start and end times keeping in mind the best interests of the STUDENTS.