'WALKING ZOMBIE' MOORPARK HIGH'S START TIME STILL IN EARLY STAGE.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

MOORPARK - To coax her teen, Maggie, out of bed on school mornings, Sharon Walsh often resorts to singing a song or calling out a wake-up cheer to rouse the sleepy sophomore by 6:40 a.m.

Getting high schoolers up and ready for school can be so difficult that the Moorpark school board is considering pushing back the campus's 7:30 a.m. start time so teens can be well rested and more productive in class.

``She's like a walking zombie,'' said dad Dave Walsh of his daughter. ``My wife has to drag her out of bed, and she's still half asleep when they leave for school. I just know in her first class - and maybe even halfway into her second class - she's probably not as attentive as she could be.''

Walsh first brought his suggestion that the start time be pushed back to the school board last year when his daughter was a freshman and he saw her struggling to adjust from middle school when classes started at 9 a.m.

District officials said the topic is still in the early stages and that the issue, which has been a pending item on the board's agenda, is expected to be discussed at one of the two meetings this month - either 6 p.m. Tuesday in the district's board room, 30 Flory Ave. or 6 p.m. Sept. 26 in the Apricot Room at the Moorpark Community Center, 799 Moorpark Ave.

They don't have a specific plan in mind and said the earliest a change could be implemented is in January when the second semester begins. More than likely it wouldn't start until the next school year.

Board member David Pollock, whose son started high school this year, requested the issue be investigated. He recommends having classes start at 8:30 a.m.

``I don't anticipate the early start time will be a problem with (my son), but I can remember being a teen-ager and how difficult it was for me. To this day I'm still not a morning person,'' Pollock said.

One issue the district would need to work out is the bus schedule. The district has staggered start times at its 10 campuses because there aren't enough buses to make the rounds at the same time.

As it stands this school year, the high school starts at 7:30 a.m. with zero period for electives starting an hour earlier. The elementary schools start at 8:30 a.m. and the middle schools start at 9 a.m.

Moorpark High School Principal Anna Merriman said she hasn't yet been part of any discussion on the issue but wouldn't favor changing the start time because it would complicate sports and extracurricular activities.

``If we start later, a lot of kids would miss athletics, and it would impact students who take courses at the college after lunch or students who work after school,'' Merriman said.

``For 30 minutes or an hour's difference, I'm not sure it's worth that much trouble,'' she said. ``I think if kids get sleep and rest like they should, they should be capable of starting at 7:30.''

The idea of letting the high schoolers start later has been gaining attention since research said biology - rather than laziness - is what keeps teens up late at night.

Hormonal changes cause the biological clocks of adolescents to shift during puberty, making it difficult for them to fall asleep at night. Sleep researchers also have found that teens need about an hour more of sleep than they did when they were younger.

But Merriman doesn't give the research too much credit.

``I don't really believe in it,'' Merriman said. ``It's just one study,'' she said. ``I could probably find another study that says it's good for students to start class at 3:30 in the morning.''

Ralph Nicoletti, whose son, Aaron, is a senior, said he hopes a time change is approved. Nicoletti said last year he sometimes had to call his son on the telephone from upstairs to get him to wake up.

Before school started this year, he had a talk with his son to make sure he was better about waking up.

Aaron, an honor student, said his problem is twofold: He is often up past 11 p.m. doing homework and usually gets the munchies, which makes it difficult to fall asleep. On top of that, he's a sound sleeper.

The student sets his clock radio for 5:35 a.m., his television for 5:40 a.m., his stereo alarm - which blares Limp Bizkit - for 5:55 a.m. His dad or his girlfriend usually call around 6 a.m. Even after all that, Nicoletti said he usually wakes up around 6:15 or 6:20.

``I've tried everything,'' said Nicoletti, 17. ``But I'm such a sound sleeper. My alarm can be going off for 30 minutes and I won't even hear it. Then the TV comes on, which gives off a little light and then my stereo - which has a lot of bass. My sister upstairs stomps on the floor to get me to turn it all off. But sometimes I don't even hear that.

``I think what it boils down to is that I need seven or eight hours of sleep.''

Algebra teacher Loren Friday said he's not sure starting school later would solve the problem and might just give students an excuse to go to bed even later. He figures the problem might have less to do with biology and more to do with teens staying up to watch Jay Leno or David Letterman.

``It's just a matter of kids managing their time,'' Friday said. ``Many of them simply don't want to. They want to burn the candle at both ends, which is what we all wanted to do at their age.''

Superintendent Frank DePasquale did not return numerous telephone calls for comment.

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(1 -- color) With Moorpark High School students starting at 7:30 a.m., some parents say pushing that time back would better prepare their children for the day.

(2 -- color) Sophomore Maggie Walsh's family are among the proponents of pushing the start time for Moorpark High back to allow students to sleep longer.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News