After the January Poudre School District (PSD) board meeting, there was talk of changing school start and end times for elementary, middle, and high schoolers.
At the start of the ‘19 to ‘20 school year, the high school start time switched from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Then, in the ‘24 to ‘25 school year, high school start time changed from 9:00 a.m. to 9:05 am.
PSD Assistant Superintendent Insoon Olson says the main reason PSD was looking to change start times was because of transportation.
To get all three school levels to school on time, PSD works with a three tier system. Currently, middle schools are at the first tier, elementary at the second, and high school at the third.
“There’s a shift at a certain time and then 45 minutes or to an hour later, there’s another shift, and then another one,” Olson said.
PSD’s goal was to change the three tier system to a two tier system. But to do that, more buses are required.
“We want to buy newer buses, but each bus costs well over $100,000.” Olson said, “We did purchase some new ones a couple of years ago. They haven’t arrived yet.”
As a former high school teacher, Olson has seen the impact 20 minutes can have on families’ morning routines.
“I think the younger the child is, the harder for parents because you can’t leave a fifth grader at home if school starts at nine in the morning,” Olson said.
According to the Transportation Operations Manager Laura Chandler, and the Vehicle Maintenance Manager Dan Weaver, in the ‘23 to ‘24 school year there were a lot of open positions because PSD couldn’t hire drivers, but this year they were able to get the right amount of buses and drivers; totaling to 113 routes.
“I think that if they were to change the times for the elementary schools as they had suggested, it would cause a large increase in the number of routes that we have,” Chandler said. “Which puts us back into a situation like we were in last year.”
Fossil Principal Mark Barry does not see how there would be enough time in the mornings and afternoons to get students home while only running a two tier system.
“When the buses leave in the morning to pick kids up, it takes a long time, but then you have to pick them all up and get them home. And there’s only so much time in the day,” Barry said.
As a teacher at Fossil Ridge High School and a mother to two sons and a daughter between the ages of ten and six, Science teacher Kristyn Degi prefers the start times stay the same.
“If the high school were to start before the elementary school, then I’d have a problem because I would have to figure out before-school care,” Degi said.
While some PSD staff think later start times will benefit high schoolers, most do not agree with it.
“We are making it more difficult for high schoolers to do their after-school things, whether it’s a job, athletics or activities,” Barry said.
PSD families received an email on Thursday, February 27, informing them that after the Board of Education meeting there will be no changes made to the start time schedule.
