Apr 2, 2014 2 min read

Washington school officials are considering a proposal that would push back the daily start times for its students at Washington Park Elementary School.

The proposal would delay the start of the school day for both primary and intermediate students to allow for more time at home in the mornings and give the students additional time to prepare for school during poor weather.

“We don’t like to make these alterations annually because it affects families,” Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo said, “But sometimes you have to make these changes and see how they work out.”

The changes would move the start time for primary students from 8:10 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and push back the dismissal times accordingly. The start times for intermediate students would go from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m., with the ending times also pushed back a half-hour.

The school board is expected to vote on whether to make the changes at its April 14 agenda meeting at the high school cafeteria.

DiLorenzo said the administration has examined the changes for the past year and worked with a school board committee for the past two months. She said the administration wanted to delay the start time in part because of the frigid temperatures during the winter.

“I was concerned about the little ones being at the bus stop that early,” DiLorenzo said.

The proposed start times are closer to what the primary and intermediate students experienced three years ago before the seventh- and eighth-graders moved to the high school campus to form the junior high school.

“When we first did that, we put a lot of time and effort into transitioning,” DiLorenzo said.

She thinks the new start times will be a better fit for the younger students. No changes are anticipated for the secondary school students.