Orange County parents to weigh in on proposed school start times

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Schools administrators are sending surveys to parents across the county to gauge their sentiment on eight proposed changes in school start times.

The options were proposed earlier in 2016 and any changes are expected to be implemented by the 2017-2018 school year, officials said.

Reactions to the proposed changes, which could push back school start times by as much as an hour, have so far been mixed.

“I think it’s way too early,” parent Lori Warren said.

Others are excited by the idea, including former Orange County student Lea Warren, who said she wished start times were later when she was in school.

“I was actually on the high school crew team, so I had practice for like, three, four hours a day after school every day of the week, (and) it was really hard getting up,” she said.

One of the options would push school start times back by about 40 minutes and would require 35 new buses at a cost of about $2.5 million a year.

Another option would push start times back by an hour and would require twice as many new buses at twice the cost.

The most expensive option would add 400 new buses.

One option that wouldn’t cost the district anything would push high school times to 7:30 a.m., elementary school to 9:05 a.m. and middle school to 9:50 a.m.

Some of the options would require negotiations with the teacher’s union, because they would result in a longer school day.

Kimberley Le doesn’t have children in Orange County schools, but she picks up family members on a regular basis and would love to see start times pushed back.

“That would be amazing,” she said. “I would love that. That extra hour, it makes a big difference.”

The district has not said when it plans to send the surveys out to parents.

Cox Media Group