BIDDEFORD — School districts in York and Cumberland counties are considering starting school later for middle and high school students, and Jeremy Ray, superintendent of Biddeford schools, and representatives of the Saco chapter of the national Start School Later initiative are leading the conversation.

About 70 people representing 14 districts from the two counties attended an Oct. 15 meeting at People’s Choice Credit Union in Saco to learn about the science supporting later school start times and to discuss the idea, Ray said last week.

“The science that is out there is pretty indisputable around the fact that adolescents, middle and high school kids … shouldn’t start before 8:30 (a.m.),” he said. “The science says it puts kids at risk for certain health hazards later in life.”

In a letter addressed to school and public officials, parents, teachers, coaches and students and dated Oct. 15, Lucien Ouellette, a pediatrics and sports medicine physician who works in Portland, said research shows teenagers – not only human teenagers but also teenagers of many other animal species – go to sleep later but still require more than eight hours of sleep.

“We all want to do what is right for our children,” Ouellette writes. “In this case, biology is telling us (nine) hours of sleep per night is what our teens need. … A healthier starting time will help the most important people in (our school) system, our teens.”

But the major concern over pushing school times back has always been about athletics, said Ray, because if start times are pushed back at some schools and not others, it could affect scheduling for games and meets. Additionally, he said, districts that have career and technical education, or CTE, schools, such as Biddeford and Sanford, enroll students from multiple districts.

In an email Sunday, David Theoharides, superintendent of Sanford schools, seconded Ray’s point about the problem a shift in start times poses for CTE schools.

“In particular for Sanford, our technical school serves seven different school districts,” he said. “To change start times would mean that all seven schools would need to synchronize our times, which could be very challenging.”

For these reasons, Ray said school representatives determined “looking at this regionally made a lot of sense.”

This year, Old Orchard Beach High School changed start times from 7:30 to 8 a.m., Lloyd Crocker, superintendent of Regional School Unit 23, which serves students in Old Orchard Beach, said this morning.

Crocker said surveys have shown 80 percent of students and 70 percent of staff in the district view the change favorably. Although parents have not been formally surveyed, none had negative comments about the change at recent parent-teacher conferences.

“I think overall so far it’s being viewed in a very positive way,” said Crocker, adding that his hope next year is for OOBHS to start even later, at 8:30 a.m.

Crocker said about a dozen OOBHS students currently take classes at the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology and the district is able to send a bus to pick them up earlier than other OOBHS students. Still, Crocker said he, like Ray, believes a regional change should be adopted.

“Nobody can question how compelling the research is, but it concerns the logistics and practicality of how you do this,” he said. “If we’re going to have success in doing this, it needs to be a regional movement.”

In emails last week, the superintendents of Saco schools and RSU 21, which serves students in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel, said they attended the Oct. 15 meeting and agreed that districts should consider later start times collaboratively.

“Saco is working with Biddeford and other school systems, as well as Thornton Academy, to see if late start times are feasible based on transportation, contractual issues and athletic schedules,” said Saco Superintendent Dominic DePatsy.

RSU 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes said she attended the meeting with Maureen King, chair of the RSU 21 School Board, and Kennebunk High School Principal Susan Cressey.

“Our takeaway was that a regional group should be formed to look at a change in start times for the half dozen career and technical high schools that we send our students to as well as the two athletic conferences that we participate in,” said Hawes. “Without regional movement on those fronts, a later start time in our local schools will put our students at a disadvantage.”

Currently, middle and high school students in Biddeford, Sanford, Saco and RSU 21 start before 8 a.m.

“As others look at this and we look at this, I think it comes down to the essential question: What’s best for kids?” said Ray.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].