In mid-December of 2017 the Houston Independent School District announced the new time change for the 2018-2019 school year. The time change was a result of a survey the school district released, which allowed parents and teachers to vote on their preferred start times for the following school year. Since this large school district managed over 67 different start time they decided to only manage 2 start times according to grade level. Elementary students will start at 7:30 and end school at 2:50. While High school and Middle school students would start school at 8:30 and leave at 3:50, but is this actually a bad thing? How does this effect the students and teachers at Westside High School? For upcoming seniors, the new time change might actually be beneficial. The seniors during the 2018-2019 school year will be able to start school at later time and still will able to have seventh period off and leave earlier than the current school hours. This is beneficial because most seniors are busy after school with their jobs, internships and senioritis . Also, bus riders don’t have to wake up so early to get to their bus stops on time. Although students wouldn’t have to wake up earlier they would arrive home later. This can interfere with parents work schedules and any after school activities and sports students are a part of.

According to David Gonzalez, a junior here at Westside, “The new school hours will make my daily routine better, as activities, such as soccer, can be practiced in the morning, just how it can be done in the afternoon. The main issue surrounding this change will be the traffic, which won’t really change the time we get home, since activities can now be held in the morning, and continued/finished in the afternoon for an hour. This benefits me because I can get more sleep.”