Beginning in August, elementary and middle school students in St. Charles will start and end the school day at new times.
Because of the assimilation of 6th grade classes into J.B. Martin and Hurst middle schools, the district has decided to make a more-uniform bell schedule for all schools.
Under the new schedule, the two local high schools will be in session from 7:10 a.m.-2:25 p.m. All middle schools plus Norco Elementary 3-5, Ethel Schoeffner Elementary and Luling Elementary will run from 7:55 a.m.-3:05 p.m. The remaining elementary schools, including Allemands, Lakewood, Mimosa Park, New Sarpy, Norco K-2, R.J. Vial, St. Rose and A.A. Songy Kindergarten Center, will run from 8:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Pat O’Malley, administrator of ancillary services for the district, said that keeping the current bell times would have ended up costing the district money.
“With the current bell times, both high schools and all four middle schools are in the same time frame – that puts 95 percent of our buses rolling at the same time,” O’Malley said.
Right now, 125 out of the district’s total 131 buses are dispatched early in the morning at the same time. Once the two sixth grade classes move up to middle schools, hundreds of additional children would need to be picked up during that time period.
“In order to transport the additional students in that same time frame, it would require that we add 13 additional buses and drivers at a cost of about $1.5 million for the first year,” O’Malley said. There would also be about a $400,000 recurring cost each following year to pay for the drivers. “It makes sense to adjust the bell times to accommodate this with no additional cost than what we have right now.”
The new schedule will also give district schools more consistent and unified bell times.
“This gives us three succinct tiers; it’s a very consistent schedule that you can plan on,” he said.
O’Malley said that another benefit to changing the bell times is that it will reduce the number of buses on parish roads at any given time. By moving the middle schools to a second tier, it will reduce the number of buses dispatched in the earliest morning hours from 125 to 62.
“To me, that’s a nice benefit,” O’Malley said.
He said that some parents have raised issues with the new times because of work schedules or other obstacles, but that the district is working to help families deal with the transition.
One option that has been discussed is before-school care for some grades.
He advised parents to keep an eye on the district’s website, www.stcharles.k12.la.us, for updates and information for the upcoming year. He also said that anyone with questions is welcome to call the central office at (985)785-6289.
“Our goal is to minimize confusion,” O’Malley said. “I know it’s a change for a large number of people, but I really feel at the end of the day it’s going to bring more benefits…that it’s going to help more students as well as save the district an additional expense.”
Be the first to comment