Feeling a bit like a one-trick pony today, posting maps and charts like a pro!  Rachel points out this table in the City Schools of Decatur Transportation Plan – required by the City Commission – that provides a clean look at the new start and end times for our seven schools over the next two years.  There’s some other interesting data in the proposed transportation plan as well, but one topic at a time.

In her monthly letter to the Board (Item “A” on the April 12th agenda), Superintendent Phyllis Edwards goes into detail about the new schedule…

Within the Transportation Plan is the new bell schedule which has been examined for over four weeks. Principals, Simone Elder, Thomas Van Soelen, and Caroline Wood have all been involved in the creation of the bell schedule for next year. Some principals also reached out to gather parent input. While we are aware of the research, there is no way to have children go to school much later than we do now, mainly because of the late time they would get out of school. Not all children can go or get out at the same time. We do not need more buses with this plan and are able to cut bus transportation down by asking our elementaries for more walking and bike riding. For next year, we plan to notify families within a determined radius that they live close enough to school and bus services will not be offered. We have worked with GSU and expect that fewer buses will be needed at the K-3 elementary level because of the change in zones. The middle school and high school principals were clear that they need an earlier start time and the new schedule is so reflected. Also in our conversations, we found that two of the K-3s were already starting school activities 15 minutes before the actual bell time.