Jeffco Public Schools, the state’s second-largest district, announced this week that it’s changing what time students will start school next academic year.
Under the new plan, middle and high schoolers will start classes later than they do now, while elementary-aged students will go to school earlier.
The revised start times will vary by school, and parents can find those new times by looking up their children’s schools on the district’s website.
“The district’s goal is to align start and end times across all Jeffco schools to create consistency for our schools, which equals equitable instruction for all students and increased student achievement,” Jeffco Public Schools leaders said in announcing the change on the district’s website.
Jeffco school officials said current start times vary across the district, with some elementary schools starting at 7:35 a.m. and others closer to 9 a.m.
“This wide range of start and end times also makes it very expensive and difficult to provide efficient and cost-effective bus transportation,” district officials wrote.
Jeffco Public Schools, like other Colorado districts, is facing a shortage of bus drivers. The district also said research shows that later start times for older students improve attendance and graduation rates as well as students’ physical and emotional health.
Nearby Denver Public Schools is also “grappling with” school start times, with Superintendent Alex Marrero telling the district’s Board of Education on Monday that the district is about to consider the issue.
Adjusting start times benefit students, but “we have to acknowledge it does disrupt the schedule of existing DPS families,” he told the board.
Jeffco Public Schools’ new start and end times will go into effect at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year.
“Change is not easy and we recognize that any shift in schedules has a real impact for families and educators across the district,” Kym LeBlanc-Esparza, the district’s deputy superintendent, wrote in a letter to parents. “Communicating new start and end times nine months prior to implementation will hopefully support our families and educators in having enough time to transition to a new schedule.”
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