Middle and high school students in Portland to get later start times

Students in Portland’s middle and high schools will get to sleep in a little for the 2021-2022 school year compared to pre-pandemic schedules.The Portland Board of Education voted 7-2 Tuesday night to approve Superintendent Xavier Botana’s plan to adjust the start of classes for the district.The goal is to better align with guidelines for healthy sleep for teenagers, hopefully letting teens get more sleep than the current schedule.For the next school year, middle and high school students will start at 8:20 a.m. PATHS will still start at 8 a.m.Elementary schools will be broken into two groups. East End, Longfellow, Ocean Avenue and Talbot elementary schools will start at 7:40 a.m. and classes at Lyseth, Presumpscot, Reiche and Rowe elementary schools will start at 9 a.m.A proposed amendment to postpone implementation of the new schedule by a year failed.The board did pass a resolution to continue studying the matter over the next year and potentially further adjust school times.