For decades, Maryland has been a trailblazing state, with Baltimore at its heart. We’ve taken pride in using science to inform policies; yet in the fight for healthy, scientifically sound school start times, Baltimore and other counties in Maryland are falling behind.

The detrimental effects of early school start times are widespread and well-known. Up to 70% of adolescents are sleep deprived, the effects of which are tied to myriad damaging health effects from chronic health issues to impaired school performance.

For decades we have known about the harm of insufficient and irregular sleep, as well as the fact that adolescents experience a delay in the timing of their opportunity to sleep — and yet we still demand students be seated in class before 8 a.m. (some as early as 7:30 a.m. in Baltimore City) despite our knowledge of its detrimental effects on students

When discussing later school start times there is one nearly instinctual rebuttal consistently given: “What about the buses?” What about the buses? Many are under the misapprehension that reconfiguring the busing schedule would create an undue burden on the school system and wreak havoc on the school day, but this stance is uninformed and defeatist. In reality, only about 7% of Baltimore City students receive busing services. Roughly 52% walk or drive on their own, and the other 41% use public transit. Understanding this statistic clears the illusion that modifying our busing system would be nearly impossible, on the contrary, it is quite feasible.

Two of Maryland’s largest counties, Anne Arundel and Howard County, have already implemented later start times. In Howard County most elementary schools start between 8:45 a.m. and 9:25 a.m., while middle and high schools still start as early as 7:50 a.m. Progress in Anne Arundel County has been even more significant, with high schools starting no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle schools starting at 9:15 a.m., while elementary schools still start as early as 8 a.m.

These counties’ moves towards healthy school start times not only prove its feasibility but also how well received the change has been. Anne Arundel County is now in its third year of implementing healthier school start times and there has been no shortage of praise for this change. Former student member of the Anne Arundel Board of Education Bunmi Omisore testified to the Start School Later nonprofit: “I wish this change was made before my end of time at AACPS, but I am so glad I was part of making our students lives better … change should be embraced, not rejected, especially when it is in the interest of our students’ health.” There is precedent for the success of delayed school start times both nationally, and in our very own backyard, yet we continue dragging our feet on making change behind the guise of implementation issues.

Here are some significant facts to keep in mind as we debate ideal school start times: We know that our early school start times have damaging effects on the health of students; as recommended by the Abell Foundation, K-12 institutions should not begin instruction before 8:30 a.m., and in most cases should start after 9 a.m. when accounting for commute time; other jurisdictions have begun to implement delayed school start times and received excellent feedback from stakeholders; and making this change would not present a significant ongoing cost or burden to the Baltimore City school system.

We are in a position where we thoroughly understand the issue at hand and how to solve it but refuse to do so. We can do better than this. Baltimore has been a hub for scientific discovery and political progress, and it is the job of the public and our leaders to continue this legacy. There is no place for irrational and harmful school policies in our city.

It is the duty of the public to advocate for their needs, and it is the job of our leaders to formulate policy that addresses those needs. Now is the time to contact our leaders, call or email members of the school board, show up at meetings and talk about the issue. It is time to put the needs of children and families on the political agenda and make it a priority in the legislature. We have voices to use and needs to be met. Don’t let the science go ignored, and don’t let our city fall behind.

Aysheh Abuarqub is a psychology student at Loyola University Maryland studying adolescent sleep and the impacts that school start times and transportation have on students’ health.