The Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) School District recently announced that four elementary schools will move their start times to 9:15 AM beginning in the 2025–26 school year (see the email from FNSB School District towards the bottom of the page).  

This continues a problematic trend: elementary schools are increasingly starting later than middle and high schools, despite overwhelming evidence — and practical reasons — for the opposite.  Nearly all the Elementary Schools in the District were already starting after 0800, with many starting at 0915, or later (see school start times list towards the bottom of the page).  

Meanwhile, all middle and high schools in the district still start at 8:00 AM or earlier, prioritizing older students’ schedules while creating massive challenges for families with younger children.   

The District claims the shift is necessary due to limited bus availability, but that’s not a scheduling issue as bus schedules would obviously not be a problem if there were enough busses / drivers — it’s a budget and staffing problem, and it shouldn’t be solved at the expense of families or child safety.

Why is there a lack of busses / drivers?  I don't know for sure, but the District contracts with a private company (Durham School Services) to provide bussing, and I'm guessing they don't pay enough to entice drivers to work there.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

What are normal business hours?

Normal business hours for childcare in Fairbanks, Alaska are 0730-1730 (7:30 AM to 5:30 PM).  There are very few State-licensed providers that offer care outside of these times.  This means most working parents need to leave work by 5:00 PM to pick up their child(ren) before their childcare provider closes.  If you work and you have a designated lunch break, which most of us do, then you have to start work by 8:00 AM (1-hour lunch break) or 8:30 AM (30-minute lunch break) in order to work an 8-hour day if you have to leave by 5:00 PM.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

Why This Is a Problem for Families:

• Unsafe transportation risks rise.  Parents who work normal business hours and have young children now must find before-school childcare AND after-school childcare, WITH TRANSPORT both ways.  This is very expensive, but more concerning is that it exposes many young children to a significantly higher risk of being in a vehicle accident.  Driving / riding in vehicles is the most dangerous thing most of us do, and the more you do it, the more likely you are to be involved in an accident.  More daily driving means more risk — especially during winter.  Some children are now making four daily trips in icy conditions instead of three.
• Desperate families turn to unregulated childcare.  Desperate parents are relying more on childcare that is not State-licensed.  State licensing requires childcare providers to receive unscheduled safety inspections and regular specialized training.  I have heard anecdotal reports of parents relying on informal arrangements found on Facebook simply to make schedules work.  It doesn't matter if they have children of their own, dropping your child(ren) off with some rando you found on Facebook is a terrible idea.
• There is NO State-licensed childcare in rural areas.  There are very few childcare providers who provide transport at all, and even fewer (if any) who provide transport to / from these rural schools.  Working parents of children in these areas suddenly had to apply for their children to attend an Out-of-Attendance Area (see below for an explanation of what this is) schools that started earlier or are located in the metro area and, thus, have more childcare / transport options.
• Elementary-aged children can’t stay home alone.  Unlike tweens and teens, they cannot get themselves to school or stay home safely before school begins.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

The Science: Teens Need Later Starts

Teenagers' brains and bodies operate on a different schedule.  Adolescence is a period of significant shifts in circadian rhythms.  Countless studies show:

• Teens naturally fall asleep and wake up later than young children.
• Early start times hurt teen mental health, academic performance, and attendance.
• Delaying middle and high school start times improves focus, safety, and well-being.

For more information, please visit the following links:

• Teenagers and Sleep: How Much Sleep Is Enough? (John Hopkins Medicine Health)
• Long-lasting effects of disturbing the circadian rhythm or sleep in adolescence (ScienceDirect)
• Sleep and circadian rhythms in children and adolescents: relevance for athletic performance of young people (PubMed / Clinical Sports Medicine)
• Teens get more sleep, show improved grades and attendance with later school start time, researchers find (UW News)
• Delaying Middle School and High School Start Times Promotes Student Health and Performance: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Statement (PubMed / Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine)
• School start times for adolescents (PubMed / Pediatrics)
• The list could go on and on...  There is basically no credible evidence that earlier school start times for Middle and High Schoolers are better in any way that promotes better mental or physical health.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

So why are we starting the youngest kids the latest?  

I have emailed the FNSB School Superintendent's Secretary (see email chain towards the bottom of this page) to find out the answer to this question, but I am still waiting for a reply.  All I have to go on right now are anecdotal reports from other parents, which include the following reasons:

• Later start times for Middle and High Schoolers would negatively affect their ability to compete in extracurricular sporting events due to the distance between competing schools and the consequently long transportation times associated with that.
• Later start times for Middle and High Schoolers would negatively affect their ability to have an extracurricular job.

While I sympathize with both wants, I think they in no way out-way the needs of working families with young children or the mental and physical health needs of adolescents.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

What has the FNSB School District Suggested Families Do?

• FNSB School District Out-of-Attendance Area Lottery Waitlist system: A lottery-style waiting list for children whose parents want them to attend a school other than the one in which attendance area they live.  As the word "lottery" implies, selection is random, not based on need, and there is no guarantee of acceptance.  "Parents who require a guarantee of placement because of childcare arrangements or other considerations are encouraged to enroll their student at the school in their attendance area" (About Out of Attendance Area).  This statement on the FNSB School District website displays a blatant disregard for the needs of working-class families.  However, this system matters much less now that there is only one Elementary School in (south) Fairbanks (not on a Military Base) that still starts by 0800.
• Two rural schools - Two Rivers and Pearl Creek - will permanently close at the end of the 2024/25 School Year, which will change the boundaries of some of the other schools to accommodate the extra students (see the FNSB 2025/26 School Boundary Map).  I recently called Weller Elementary to inquire about the availability of before- and after-school programs for the 2025/26 school year, and was told that, due to the closure and additional students, there will no longer be extra space / classrooms available for such programs.  In my email to the FNSB School Superintendent Secretary (see email chain towards the bottom of this page), I also inquired which schools still offer these programs.  As I previously stated, I am still waiting for a response to these questions.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

What Needs to Happen:

All elementary schools should start earlier than middle and high schools. This is the most developmentally appropriate and logistically responsible solution — and it’s already the standard in many other districts.  The FNSB District needs to do the following:

• Re-evaluate the school start time schedule with scientific research and childcare realities in mind.
• Invest in transportation solutions instead of pushing the burden onto families.
• Re-engage with families directly before making further changes.

🖊️ Sign this petition and share it with fellow parents, educators, and concerned citizens.  Let's push FNSB School District to make decisions that actually work for the families they serve.

 

School Start Times List (see image below)

You might notice a few Elementary Schools that start at 0800, or earlier.  However, Anderson-Crawford Elementary is on a Military Base, Arctic Light Elementary is on a Military Base, Discover Peak Charter is in North Pole, and Hunter Elementary is in South Fairbanks.  My family and I live in Northeast Fairbanks in the Weller attendance area.  We pay over 5K per year in property taxes, but my child cannot attend the school in which area we live unless I quit my job because his school starts after normal business hours and there is no State-licensed childcare that will transport to Weller Elementary, which is in a rural area, and there is no other Elementary School that starts by 0800 within a reasonable driving distance.  I apologize for the poor formatting choices of the School District that make the following document so difficult to read...

 

 

 

 

 

eMail from the FNSB School District (see images below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eMail to the FNSB School Superintendent Secretary (see images below)

Coming soon...