CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than 500 Kanawha County parents have signed a petition asking the county’s Board of Education to reconsider start times for the 2018-2019 school year.
High school starts times will shift from as early as 7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m next year. Nine middle schools will begin classes at 8 a.m. in the upcoming year, and elementary schools will begin classes as early as 7:05 a.m., although there is not much of an overall difference from the 2017-2018 school year.
The change was made in light of an American Academy of Pediatrics report published in 2014 saying middle and high school students should not start classes before 8:30 a.m. because of mental and physical health problems.
Sarah Griffith will have three students at Weberwood Elementary School next year. Classes started at 8 a.m. in the recent academic year, but the start time will shift in August to 7:25 a.m.
“My very first concern is that elementary school kids will be waiting for the bus in the dark,” she said. “Almost every single day, almost every single elementary school kid in the county now.”
Griffith said she is also concerned about making sure her children can be picked up from school when classes end at 1:55 p.m., as well as the loss of family time.
“Now, my kids have to go to bed an hour earlier, but my husband still works past 5 p.m. every day,” she said. “We’re looking at about an hour and a half that he has to be with the kids before they go to bed so they get the proper sleep that they need as well.”
Griffith organized a petition, netting 559 signatures within a week.
“Parents care, parents want to be involved,” she said. “The community wants to talk about changes like this and not be told about changes like this.”
Brette Fraley, transportation director for Kanawha County Schools, said the new schedule results in less stressful routes for bus drivers.
“In the mornings, we should be able to get all the students there in time for breakfast to get taken care of before school starts,” he said. “When you look at the afternoon, there’s an hour in between each tier, so we have plenty of time to get all the students home and hopefully limited wait time for the rest of the schools.”
Fraley said they hope not to have bus drivers feeling rushed, but that issue will also depend on staffing.
“We’ve already lost 10-plus drivers since the end of the year and we’ve only hired three,” he said.
Griffith said she wants the board to reach out to the public before changes in policy are made rather than leaving parents upset.
“We want to be proactive about changes in our schools’ community,” she said.