By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - Monday-morning doldrums may ease up for Lebanon High School students this coming school year under a proposed experiment that would allow them to flex in on the first day of each school week.

Under the experiment, the high school's 1,200 students would have the option of starting their school days at 7:10 a.m. or 7:55 a.m. on Mondays in the fall quarter.

If they choose the earlier time, they can receive tutoring and homework assistance, breakfast in the cafeteria or participate in early morning school club meetings.

Superintendent Bill Sears said teachers benefit, too, because it will allow extra planning time to collaborate with other instructors in the same academic subject.

"Research has shown that if you allow teachers to plan together, you get better results," Sears said.

The pilot program, which is being studied by the Lebanon Board of Education but is expected to be approved by the board next month, is based on a similar one at Adlai E. Stevenson High School near Chicago that has shown promising results.

It would be the first such experiment in student flex time in the 4,700-student Warren County school system, which was rated overall as "effective" by state education officials last school year.

Jenny Moormeier, director of secondary instruction and technology for the district, said school officials will measure the program's results at the end of the fall quarter, with the help of student and parent surveys, before deciding whether to continue or expand the flexible start time.

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E-mail mclark@enquirer.com