Proposal would change schools’ starting times
School bell times would change for 110 schools to save as much as $10 million in transportation costs under a proposal that the Clark County School Board will consider next week.
The start and the end of the school day could change anywhere from 75 minutes to 5 minutes for the 2011-12 school year, a school district official said Thursday.
The School Board will consider the plan on April 6, when it must pass a tentative budget with an estimated $250 million to $400 million funding shortfall because of anticipated reductions in state aid and revenue from local property and sales taxes.
Jeff Weiler, the chief financial officer for the school district, said the district could eliminate 125 bus driver positions next year by going to a more efficient system of staggered bell times. Each bus ideally would serve an elementary school, a middle school and a high school.
The length of the school day would not change, Weiler said. A school that starts an hour later would end the school day an hour later.
Because the plan is still under refinement, the affected schools would not be identified until sometime before the end of the current school year.
Bell times at 22 elementary schools and at nine middle schools and high schools would change by 65 to 75 minutes.
Bell times would change for 20 elementary schools and 10 middle schools and high schools by 35 to 60 minutes.
They would be changed for 20 elementary schools and seven middle schools and high schools by 15 to 30 minutes and for 19 elementary schools and three high schools and middle schools by five to 10 minutes.
School Board Trustee John Cole said some parents have raised concerns about the potential effects on their work and family schedules, but most of the reaction has been positive because people appreciate that the district is becoming more efficient.
Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.