Losing an extra 15 minutes of sleep is a small price to pay to ensure that children in the Ironton school district can get to school safely with plenty of time to get a good breakfast.

The district, still just a few weeks into its move to the new elementary and middle schools on Delaware Street in the city’s north end, has opted to begin and dismiss middle and high school 15 minutes early to address safety concerns tied to traffic congestion at the new schools.

Class and bus schedules for students in kindergarten through fifth grade are not affected and will not change.

We applaud Superintendent Dean Nance and the district’s leadership for taking this approach after identifying that there is clearly a problem.

It is vitally important that students have the opportunity to get to school without having to face congested traffic and also have the time to eat breakfast once they arrive.

Since this decision was made for the right reasons, it seems unlikely that parents or students will mind getting up and leaving the house just a little earlier.

And this will likely only be a temporary problem because the high school students are only attending classes on the north end in the former middle school this year. By next fall, or possibly sooner, the students will be in the new high school on Seventh Street, a move that will drastically cut down on the traffic.

Progress never comes without potential pitfalls. This seems to be a perfect example of taking a positive approach to overcoming challenges.

And because it means keeping Ironton students safe, this is a smart move that no on should lose sleep over.