This problem (if it even is a problem) affects a small number of students in a handful of regions in the country. Individual schools/school districts are free to come up with their own personalized solutions. There is no reason to involve the other 95% of the population in this game.

Seriously.

If schools want to start at 8am instead of 7am in the winter, then they should just do that.

There are 70+ million children in US, so at least 70+ million parents affected by this "game". That would be half of the working population of 150MM.

Not all children are of school going age. Not all parents work strict 8am-5pm office jobs. Some schools/school districts already start late. A large chunk of the country doesn't have problems with daylight because of location.

My overall point is - the equations of labor, electricity, fuel, school, daycare, geographical times and more are complex enough in this country today that it is okay to let individual schools/offices etc. pick what timings best work for them rather than artificially trying to fit everyone in the same mold.

Is changing the definition of the hours the best way to solve this problem though? It seems tangentially related at best.

You have more daylight in the evening and can actually have some time to enjoy said daylight rather than spending the entire day indoors and going home when it's dark out.