Breaking: Fossil’s start times shift for next school year
The change in school start times would move Fossil’s school day about an hour and half back.
After a study by the American Medical Association revealed benefits to starting school at later times for teenagers, the Poudre School District began to consider shifting school start times. Taking both student and parent input into consideration, they made a decision that will be effective starting during the 2019-2020 school year.
The school district’s Board of Education voted Tuesday, November 27 in favor of making school start times later, with many claiming they cannot ignore what the research is showing. Fossil Ridge High School will shift to being in session from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting with the next school year. The time change will require changes to Fossil’s current class schedule, among others, and more information will be published as it becomes available.
For more information on the board’s initial decision and data gathered on the subject, check out the article from The Coloradoan.
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Breck • Nov 28, 2018 at 10:23 am
If the Board of Education allows the drastic change of schedule, those riding the bus will be arriving at their stop anywhere from 4:40-5:10, due to the fact that school will be ending at 4:20, assuming the school does not rid of the late start. People driving home will get back anywhere from 4:30 to 5:00. This (in my opinion) leaves very little time for out of school activities, such as sports or clubs, which last for around an hour after the day ends. If clubs and sports last for an hour, they will be getting out at around 5:30, with enough time to do homework and eat, but no time left for anything else.
Stemming off of sports, a lot of tennis courts and other smaller activities will have to be lit up, concerning a multi-year project and 4 million dollars in lighting, along with a relatively steep $100/hour of electricity.
Source: PSD’s study on the later starts of 9AM- 4PM
https://www.psdschools.org/sites/default/files/PSD/communications/Late%20Start%20Study/School_Start_Times_Presentation_for_BOE_November_13_2018%20(1).pdf
Matthew Mayer • Nov 28, 2018 at 10:01 am
I think it is also important to inform readers that sports and other activities will be pushed into the night, with the district planning on spending $4 million dollars to light up fields and tennis courts during the nights. It’s also crucial that we note that the option that the district voted for, was option C, the most drastic one and the one that got the least votes in both the preliminary vote and the secondary vote that was put out by the district. All of this information and more can be found on the Poudre School District Website, and the specific information above was found here: https://www.psdschools.org/node/1202
It would seem that student voices weren’t heard.