Survey is Next Step in School Start Times Recommendation

school time traffic

By WCS InFocus

A survey on school start times is scheduled to be distributed to parents, staff, high school students and members of the business community during the first week of October.

The purpose of the survey is to gauge interest in possible changes.

“Any change has the potential to affect every family in WCS,” Deputy Superintendent Jason Golden said. “We strongly encourage our families and the business community to provide feedback to us through the survey.”

The survey follows the last of three community meetings regarding school start times in Williamson County Schools, which was held Sept. 20 at Fairview Middle School. Approximately 200 people have attended the three community meetings held this month.

The conversation for school start time changes began in January. Since then, the district has collected research and is now asking for the input of parents. Studies showed students don’t get enough sleep and Williamson County Schools is trying to figure out a way to combat that issue.

One of three things could come out of this conversation: the district keeps the times the same, schools push back the times half an hour, or high school and elementary schools switch start times.

Presently, high school begins at 7:25 a.m. with elementary beginning near 8:30 a.m. According to district personnel, it’s impossible to have all schools start near or around 8:30 because of the double routes and transportation issues. Any change to the start times would not financially impact the district.

But it could affect things like athletics, bus transportation and after school care.

Below are portions of a Power Point presentation that was shown to attendees at the three community meetings:

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sleep school start times

sleep school start times