Board selects earlier high-school start time to anchor bussing; 5–4 vote

The Horseheads Central School District Board of Education voted 5–4 on Sept. 19 to set the high-school anchor start time near 7:20 a.m., a decision district staff said is required to proceed with bus-route modeling and scheduling.

Superintendent Dr. Douglas presented the start-time item as an operational anchor the transportation vendor (Tyler Technology) needs to finalize three-tier bus routing. He said selecting an anchor allows staff to model how secondary and elementary start times will fall into place and to evaluate whether more buses are needed to shorten individual ride times.

Board members were sharply divided. Some cited sleep-research and public-health guidance favoring later start times: one board member read language from the American Academy of Pediatrics, saying the organization “recognizes insufficient sleep in adolescence as an important public-health issue” and urged the board to consider later starts. Other members emphasized instructional efficiency, staffing bookends, and athletics scheduling; supporters of the early anchor said an earlier high-school start time improves teachers’ ability to teach full blocks and helps transportation efficiency.

After debate, the board called the question and approved the earlier anchor start time by counted vote (yes 5, no 4). District staff said Tyler Technology will take several weeks to complete route modeling once the anchor is set; the resulting bus schedules, building-specific start times, and any additional bus purchases or wraparound care options will be returned to the board and communicated to families.

The board also discussed follow-ups including timing for course-catalog decisions and counselor scheduling that depend on an established school-day structure.