Those of you with kids in HISD schools, take note.
To save an estimated $1.2 million, HISD officials are considering standardizing the times that schools start and end, prompting protests from parents worried about teenagers nodding off in class or behind the wheel.
For high school students, the first bell would ring at 7:45 a.m. — at least half an hour earlier than most campuses start now. Middle schools would start the latest, at 8:45 a.m., and elementary schools would begin at 7:30 a.m. or 8:30 a.m.
The Houston Independent School District would be following several neighbors that stagger schedules to cut busing costs and have opted to start high schools earliest. In Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the area’s second-largest district behind HISD, high schools start at 7:25 a.m.
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier acknowledges the move would be unpopular with many but says the coinciding earlier release time would help students with after-school jobs and keep athletes from practicing in the dark during the spring time change. The school board could vote on the proposal as early as next Thursday.
I heard about this proposal in April and posted an email I received that advocated against the change here. You can also see what the proposed start times for each HISD elementary school would be here. If this goes through, in four years I’ll have one kid starting school at 7:30 and another at 8:45. To say the least, that will make our mornings interesting. School Zone has more.
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