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District proposes aligning middle-school start with high school; board hears transportation cost and sleep concerns
Summary
Principals proposed moving Murray Avenue and the middle school to schedules that align with the high school to provide common planning time and smoother transportation; staff said two additional buses (estimated ~$80,000 each) may be needed and board members raised concerns about earlier start times and students' sleep.
At the Feb. 3 meeting, principals and administrators proposed aligning Murray Avenue and Lower Moreland Middle School start and end times with the high school to create sheltered faculty meeting time and improve transportation logistics for the secondary campus.
Administrators said the Murray Avenue student day would shift modestly (from 08:02–03:02 to about 08:20–03:05) to create a built-in meeting time similar to other buildings. For the middle school, presenters recommended moving the student day from 08:02–03:02 to 07:25–02:20 and the staff day from 07:45–03:15 to 07:20–02:50 to align with the high school. Presenters said the change is staff-neutral but will have transportation impacts.
Transportation staff summarized a sandbox analysis with First Student and internal route modeling and recommended adding two buses if the proposal proceeds; presenters estimated about $80,000 per bus (district staff said they initially thought the figure might be higher but refined the estimate after modeling). Administrators emphasized the need for accurate parent survey responses and ridership counts to avoid routing empty seats.
Board members and administrators discussed practical benefits and trade-offs. Principals highlighted advantages for shared staffing, longer periods for sixth-grade science and social studies, more efficient dismissals and better access to advanced coursework (district staff said 41 students currently take advanced classes at the high school). A board member raised health and developmental concerns about earlier start times, saying, “These kiddos are not used to it. I'm really concerned about the impact... they actually need 10 hours of sleep at this age,” and asked how PACE data supports the change. Administrators responded that internal PACE survey results show about 80% of eighth graders and 87% of sixth graders report more than seven hours of sleep, and said sleep impacts were considered in planning.
Administrators said some timing changes should reduce afternoon travel times for student athletes and shorten time out of class for away meets; they also said some MTSS and SEL time would be combined to create a daily intervention/win period. No formal vote was taken at the Feb. 3 meeting; administrators said further route planning, parent surveys and refined cost estimates will precede any final board action.
Next steps: the district will push summer parent surveys, do rider counts, refine the bus estimate and return specifics to the board for approval.
