School Start Times - Special Meeting Presentation

School Start Times - Special Meeting Presentation

Presentation Available here.

On Tuesday, December 10, the Board of Education held a special meeting to allow for public presentation by our transportation consultant: Mr. Jerry Ford. The purpose of the presentation was to identify the options available to the Board that allow for a later start time for high school and middle school students and the potential cost impact of each.

To do this, the consultant outlined different categories for the Board and the cost structures connected with each. The times used are not his recommendation, they are used simply to provide models so we may understand options and costs. Any of the models may be further manipulated or changed, but they provide a way for us to remove certain options and focus on others.

The presentation provides five basic models:

  1. Option 1 - Shifting our current time tiers to allow for a later start time for high school and middle school.
  2. Options 2 and 3 - Pairing secondary and elementary schools to allow for later start times while sharing buses between tiers.
  3. Option 4 - Eliminating tiering and using individual buses for each route, allowing for the most flexibility in scheduling.
  4. Option 5 - Shifting our elementary start times earlier.

Again, these are simply models to allow for discussion. Board members are reviewing each and will continue conversation at our next meeting on December 17.