School board approves Mason District pilot on middle school start times

The Fairfax County School Board directed the superintendent to develop a pilot program for later start times at Mason District middle schools.

On March 27, the board passed a motion by Mason school board member Ricardy Anderson that calls for a cost-neutral plan to implement later times in as many of the Mason District schools as possible for the 2025-26 school year.

There are three middle schools in Mason District – Glasgow, Holmes, and Poe. Those middle schools are the only ones in Fairfax County with sixth-graders.  

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The motion says the plan should minimize start time changes for the high school pyramids that serve those middle schools. It calls for Superintendent Michelle Reid to report back to the school board by April 10.

The board approved a follow-on motion requiring the plan to include “robust community engagement and consideration of varied student transportation needs for implementing healthy school start times in conjunction with the holistic boundary review process.”

FCPS middle schools currently start 7:30 a.m. That schedule was set in 2014 when the board voted to delay the start of high school to 8 a.m. or later. That change is based on research showing students need sufficient sleep for academic success and mental and emotional well-being.

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At that time, the then-superintendent agreed to consider later start times for middle schools, but nothing happened for years.

In 2023, FCPS awarded a contract to Prismatic Services to develop a plan for changing middle school start times to 8 a.m. or later.

Only one of the six options presented by Prismatic in December wouldn’t cost anything as no additional buses would be needed. Under that option, middle schools would start at 9:40 a.m., elementary schools at 8 or 9:10, and high schools at 8:30.

Meanwhile, FCPS is undergoing a major review of school boundaries districtwide. In February, FCPS recommended considering middle school start times simultaneously with the boundary study which is expected to be completed in early 2026.

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