The York County School Board learned about six potential scenarios at a work session Monday that would juggle school start times in the hope of allowing high school to start after 7:20 a.m.
The York County School Division administration broke the potential start times for high school down in six scenarios. It would be untenable for the school division to have buses running for elementary, middle and high schools at the same time, so many of the scenarios juggle the start times for elementary and middle schools.
The scenarios are as follows:
- Combine the high school and middle school bus routes. This would push the high school start time to 7:45 a.m. and the end time to 2:30 p.m. The elementary and middle school schedules would remain unchanged.
- Delay current start times by 25 minutes across the board.
- Change busing sequence to middle then high then elementary schools. That would result in a 7:20 a.m. start time for middle school and an 8 a.m. start time for high school. Elementary school start times would remain unchanged.
- Change busing sequence to middle then elementary then high schools. That would result in a 7:20 a.m. start time for middle schools, an 8 a.m. start time for elementary schools and an 8:45 a.m. start time for high schools.
- Change busing sequence to elementary then high then middle schools. That would result in a 7:20 a.m. start time for elementary schools, an 8 a.m. start time for high schools and an 8:45 a.m. start time for middle schools.
- Change busing sequence to elementary then middle then high schools. That would result in a 8:20 a.m. start time for elementary schools, an 8 a.m. start time for middle schools and an 8:45 a.m. start time for high schools.
High school currently begins at 7:20 a.m. and ends at 2:05 p.m. Middle school starts at 8 to 8:05 a.m. a.m. and ends at 2:45 to 2:50 p.m. Elementary school starts at 8:45 to 9 a.m. and ends at 3:21 to 3:36 p.m.
The current setup uses a busing sequence of high school then middle school then elementary school.
Each of the scenarios presents issues for the school board to consider. Mixing middle and high school students on the same bus would require the school division to invest money in new buses, a sum that could be as high as $1.5 million to $2 million. Mixing the students created controversy when it was suggested in the past, according to School Board member R. Page Minter.
The other scenarios present different challenges. The scenarios that would push elementary start times to the beginning of the tier would result in elementary school students waiting for the bus in the dark or the near-dark.
In their discussion of the list of scenarios, the school board members were in agreement that a potential survey would be an appropriate way to gauge how families would feel about a change in school start times. The content of any potential survey would be solidified at a later meeting.
Kirschke said she wanted a committee of stakeholders who represent elementary, middle and high schools to come together and offer input on how changes in start times would affect their students.
Many of the school divisions in the state feature start times that fall between 8 and 8:30 a.m., though a handful begin between 7:20 to 7:40 a.m. If high school were to be pushed to 8:45 a.m. as a few of the scenarios call for, York County would become an outlier in the other direction, joining one other school division in that time slot.
The school board did not make any firm decisions regarding start times, and a final decision is not likely for some time. The board will next discuss the start times at the beginning of next school year, though school board chairwoman Barbara Haywood referred to that as a “starting point” for conversation on the issue. School board member Cindy Kirschke said it is important to her that any discussion of the issue is televised, and the school board’s June 14 meeting will not be on television.
“I want the community members to know they have a voice pro or con and that they will be able to be heard next school year,” Kirschke said.
Any potential across-the-board change to school start times puts the school board in the precarious position of considering the interests of families of students across age ranges. They must consider the cost of increased busing, how parents with children who require supervision would be affected by shifting the time the student is at home, how after-school jobs and activities would be affected and myriad other issues.
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