No Change to Start and Dismissal Times
There will be no change to our school start and dismissal times for the 2018-19 school year.
As shared in our update prior to break, part of the district’s commitment to balancing the budget includes evaluating our current transportation contract. Over winter break, district officials met with our transportation company, First Student, to explore potential options for cost savings, and we found that none of the options presented resulted in start and dismissal times that would be beneficial to our students, staff, and families. The scenarios that resulted in the highest cost savings had students either starting too early or dismissing past the times that we are comfortable with.
As a result of evaluating the options and determining none would be beneficial, the board of education agreed to continue with the current start and dismissal times for next school year. This means there will be no change to our school schedules for the 2018-19 school year.
Prior to break, we shared that we would be gathering staff and parent feedback regarding the potential options for start and dismissal times for the 2018-19 school year, and with the decision to keep the schedule unchanged for next school year, we will not be conducting a survey as there are no viable options to consider for change at this time.
Next year, the board will continue to evaluate transportation options to determine if potential cost savings and schedules could result in better start and dismissal times for students. Any potential changes in start and dismissal times would not take effect until the 2019-20 school year at the earliest. We will reach out to parents and staff for feedback prior to any changes taking effect.
If you have any questions or comments about our process or the results from the transportation contract renegotiation, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Dr. Fessler