It may seem feasible on the long run. Indeed, it can be easier for the parents of the new children to adapt their schedule.

But it can be very hard for the parents that previously chose the school (partly) because of its start time, and adapted their own life & work schedule around this time.

A "two-tier" system with 7:30 and 9:00 starts is interesting - one thing to consider, though, is that many, many families in Boston would like for school to start between 8:00 and 8:30. So a solution with zero students starting in this window might be unpopular.

Where do you live that schools start at 07:30?

Also, it'd have a huge side effect: middle/high schools kids can go to school on their own. Many kids at elementary schools cannot. With this, you force parents to drop their kids off much earlier, which would fuck with their work schedules.

I'm from indiana. 7:30 is a common starting time. I'll add that most parents in the areas I lived didnt take their kids to school. A lot kids take the bus, either from home or from a daycare. Additionally, many schppls offer before and after school care, usually starting at 7 or 7:30 for the parents that will pay for it.

Indiana has the most complicated time zone history of any state in the US because of a long-running battle between those who want to be on Eastern time for synchronization with the East Coast and those who want to be on Central time because that’s where the state’s longitude puts it.

Yup. As far as I've witnessed, syncing with either Ohio/Eastern time or Illinois (Central time) is the main bits of the matter. Northwest Indiana is pretty in line with Chicago: Terre Haute (southwest-ish) more on Illinoise. Lafayette (central west/Purdue area) is in between. Central Indiana doesn't matter so much due to Indianapolis. Southeast is more in line with Louisville and the entire eastern edge, once you are outside of the easily Indianapolis area, is more reliant on larger Ohio cities. (Cincinatti, Cleveland, and to a smaller extent, Toledo). Ft Wayne I'm not as sure about, though I think they'd rather stay in line with Ohio's time.

I*m not entirely sure why it is a big deal: Either way, it is only an hour at this point. To be fair, it was more difficult before indiana adopted Daylight Savings time.

Where do you live that they don't? ;)

My high school (in Maryland) started at 7:25. The middle school in my town in Massachussetts now starts at 7:40.

I'm from the Netherlands. I believe that my primary school started at 08:15-08:30. High school started at the same time.

Same in Italy, all schools - independently from grade/type - start in that timeframe, but there are some advantages from what seemingly happens in Boston:

1) Elementary and middle schools are (more or less) neighbourhood based, it is an exception that a pupil comes from far away.

2) The "problem" comes starting from high school, in Italy we have two "generic" high school types, the "Classico" and the "Scientifico" (I think there is no need for a translation) of which there are many + a number of "focused" or "professional" schools like Geometri, Ragionieri, Linguistico, Artistico, Alberghiero (Surveying, Accounting, Linguistic, Artistic, Hotelier) and usually it is the kids going to these latter types that have the longer commuting time/earlier waking needs, particularly those coming from villages nearby the city.

In my times, I was lucky enough to be able to walk (accompanied or later alone) to elementary school as it was less that one block away, as well walk (some fifteen minutes walk away) to middle school and go by bike or moped or bus to high school (a fifteen to thirty minutes trip at the most).

But I had friends that went to that or the other "professional" institute that had 1 h - 1 h 30 trips every morning, so they usually set the alarm clock to 6-6:15 in the morning.

Now I will sound as an old grumpy bastard, but all in all none of us suffered from the scary consequences outlined in the article:

"Sleep-deprived teens are at increased risk for poor academic performance, binge drinking, and suicide."

Maybe, just maybe, it is that risk that is a tad bit exaggerated?

First class at my high-school (Fairfax County, mid-90s) was 7:20am. Some still start that early, though the county has moved some to later starts. And some primary schools were moved into the early slot. There are only so many buses/drivers to transport kids.

Also, importantly, you'd then have younger kids getting out of school much earlier, which would require parents to pay for after-school care. And parents with younger kids are often younger and therefore generally making less money...

Atlanta metro area, starts at 7:40.

Allegedly the problem was that parents had to quit their jobs to adjust to the schedule. To me this seems easily solved by having little Jimmy walk or take the bus to school. No need for parental involvement in those cases as 12 year olds are capable of getting off and on a bus without supervision

I used to work in Boston Public Schools, so I have some context that may or may not address your point. One issue is that for the most part, Boston does not do "neighborhood schools" anymore. So a kid could easily have a 1.5 hour* walk to get to school. However, your point about busses largely stands because, at least for high school kids, the district mostly partners with public transit to bus the kids around.

* Downtown Boston is tiny. But the actual official city is pretty big, and dips much further south than many people realize.

It is more because older children can watch the younger ones after school. A 15-year old can watch the 8 year old for an hour or so after school. the 12 year old might be able to, but can definitely stay home alone. An 8 year old needs care. The later start minimises this with a "traditional" work schedule.

How many households have a 15 year old and an 8 year old?

Im sure google has precise answers and it has changed since it became a standard arguement 30+ years ago, but I do imagine plenty. 3 years between kids and having 3 kids gets you pretty close (the 8 year old would have a 14 year old sibling). I personally have siblings 6 and 11 years younger than me. The bigger issue with me answering is that not only am I 40, but I'm childless and living in a different country than I grew up in. I*m not sure what the standard family actually is right not in different parts of the country.

You may want to check out some of the neighborhoods involved before you make such a statement.