Bibb County system seeks feedback on school start times

The Bibb County school district is taking a look at a new bell schedule for the fall, and officials are seeking public input on three options.

The current bus plan has what Keith Simmons, the district’s chief of staff, called a two-tiered system. In it, middle and high schools start just 20 minutes apart and elementary schools start about 50 minutes later. Due to the short time between the middle and high school start times, students at those schools have often been late arriving.

“The operational plan that we currently use has helped to create this problem,” Simmons said.

While elementary school students generally arrive on time, buses are frequently 30 minutes or more late to pick them up in the afternoons because of tight scheduling at the end of the day, when there are just 10 minutes between high school and middle school releases and another 35 minutes until elementary schools are dismissed.

At a recent school board meeting, Simmons and Superintendent Curtis Jones said the district has tried to hire more bus drivers, but they’ve remained stuck at about 142 active drivers. A pay raise for drivers is in the budget proposal for the 2016-2017 school year, but Simmons pointed out in a presentation that even districts with higher salaries had unfilled positions.

“All school districts on this screen are experiencing a shortage of bus drivers,” he said.

The three new proposals all have one group starting at 7:25 a.m., another at 8:15 a.m. and another at 9:05 a.m. to create the desired 50-minute gap to make sure students arrive on time. All three have the same gap at the end of the day, with finish times of 2:30, 3:20 and 4:10 p.m.

In Schedule 1, the high school students would have the earliest start time, followed by middle schoolers and then elementary school students at 9:05 a.m. Schedule 2 would be similar, except with the middle school students going first at 7:25 a.m. and going until 2:25 p.m. for a seven-hour day. All other scheduling would call for a 7-hour, 5-minute day.

The third schedule option would call for high school students to go first at 7:25 a.m., followed by the elementary school students and then the middle-schoolers with the 9:05 a.m. slot.

Parents will have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the potential plans at three community forums, according to a release from the district. The first is scheduled for May 2 at 6 p.m. at Appling Middle School, followed by a session at Howard Middle on May 4 at 5 p.m. and Ballard-Hudson Middle on May 5 at 5 p.m. An online survey will also be available on the district’s website from May 6 through May 13.

Jones said he was aware that each plan could present difficulties for families, but he asked parents to “work with us” to find the best possible solution.

“What we’re currently doing is not working,” he said.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Bibb County system seeks feedback on school start times."