Emotions run high over plan to change school start times

    Emotions ran high at a forum Thursday night to discuss Roanoke City’s plan to flip flop school start times.
    The proposed plan would have middle and high school students starting class around nine instead of at seven or eight in the morning.
    On the other hand, elementary classes would start an hour earlier than they do now.
    School officials say the reason is educational studies show kids have higher test scores with early start times and older kids function better with more sleep.
    One of the biggest topics discussed at Thursday night’s form was transportation.
    “How do you all propose to carry high school and middle school at the same time when we don’t have enough employees to do it?“ a bus driver said.
    Janell Woods is a parent and bus driver.  She and many others are worried high school and middle school students wouldn’t mesh on the way to school.
    “Putting a high school student and middle school student on a bus… They’re not socially ready,“ Woods said.
    “Things happen on the bus - that’s just a fact of life.  Would you want your sixth grader seeing 17, 18, 19 year olds doing drugs, making out?“ another parent asked during the meeting. 
    But not everyone was against the change.
  “I’ve actually been in both an early and a late elementary school,“ a teacher said.  “The students tend to be more tired later in the day, and less focused, and less able to pay attention to the instruction that’s taking place.“
    There’s one thing everyone can agree on:  there’s a lot to consider when changing school start times.
    The next forum for parents to express their concerns is Tuesday, March 11th at 7pm in the cafeteria of Patrick Henry High School.
    If you would like to fill out an online survey about the change, click here.