The Natchitoches Parish School Board agreed Tuesday to form a committee to study staggered school start and end times and related bus routing changes, with work aimed at the 2026–27 school year.

Board member Benfield raised the issue, saying the district should stop “talking about it” and “actually take some action.” The board approved a committee made up of board members and district staff to evaluate options, with meetings to begin in July when key staff and master-schedule planning can be involved.

The move responds to repeated board concerns about very early student pickup times and long rides for students living far from campus. Superintendent Dr. Eloy and transportation staff cautioned that master schedules recently completed for next year make immediate changes impractical. Dr. Eloy said, in part, that changing start times after master schedules are finalized would “blow up everyone’s master schedules” because elementary and middle schools must preserve required instructional blocks and daily minute totals.

Board members and district staff described trade-offs: staggered start times could reduce the number of buses needed and save money but can complicate family schedules, sibling coordination and extracurricular activities. The board heard that some other parishes use differential start times and that districts reported reduced bus runs after staggering starts. Transportation Director Mr. Baptiste told the board his team is “open to that conversation” and that route planning would need to be part of any new bus contract.

The board named members to the study committee: Emile Metoyer, Russ Danzi, Billy Benfield, Reba Phelps and Dorothy McGasky, and directed staff to include teaching-and-learning representatives and transportation leadership. The group will report progress at monthly committee meetings and aims to present options that would allow schools and principals to incorporate any approved changes into master-schedule work for 2026–27.

Next steps include scheduling the committee’s first meeting in July and inviting district curriculum and transportation staff to identify constraints and likely impacts on instructional blocks, recess and extracurricular schedules.