Regional School Unit 5 Superintendent Ed McDonough he has received “a number of letters” from Freeport High School students regarding the time frame of the school day.

McDonough, speaking at the RSU 5 board meeting last Oct. 28, said he has heard from students regarding issues such as the length of the school day, a later starting time and “even one for a four-day school week.”

Director Valy Steverlynck of Freeport said that studies have shown a later starting time is better for students, and advocated putting the issue on a school board agenda.

Classes at Freeport High begin at 7:50 a.m.

“Relatively speaking,” McDonough said, “we’re not where we want to be. We’re better than most. It’s a really broad conversation you’re going to have to engage in with a lot of people, such as sports.”

A study done in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests that a later school starting time would benefit students. Beginning at adolescence, kids have what’s called a “delayed sleep phase, where they start sleep later and sleep later in the morning,” according to the study. And they need more than nine hours’ sleep a night, the study says.

An effort to make high school starting times later statewide failed in the Legislature in April. A bill sponsored by Rep. Matthea Daughtry, D-Brunswick, would have required that by September 2017, high schools would start classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m., with at least 11 consecutive hours of uninterrupted time from the end of class, extra-curricular activities and events to the start of the next school day.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said that the department has no statistics regarding starting times for Maine high schools.

Neighboring school districts, including South Portland and Scarborough, have begun the complex study of later start times at both the high-school and middle-school levels. Issues cited by school officials in those communities include the impact on busing, after-school activities, family schedules of both students and school district employees and child care.

Also during last Wednesday’s RSU 5 board meeting, director Lindsay Sterling of Freeport mentioned the condition of Morse Street School, which is 70 years old. Sterling spoke after Dennis Ouellette, director of facilities and transportation, updated the board with elements of RSU 5’s five-year capital-improvement plan. Sterling said she hears parents speaking of the school’s age.

“Morse Street School looks unwelcoming and institutional,” Sterling said.

Sterling added that the school should be placed on a list for replacement “fairly soon.”

Karin VanNorstrand of Freeport attended her final meeting as a board member. Following Tuesday’s RSU 5 elections, the Freeport town clerk will swear in three board members Wednesday afternoon at the Town Hall. The new school board meets Nov. 4 at Durham Community School.

“I just wanted to say that I’ve learned so much over the last 41?2 years,” VanNorstrand told fellow board members. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here.”