Northfield board weighs later high-school start times but balks at full "flip" after transportation costs revealed

Board members on Monday debated whether to change school start times after a presentation that highlighted evidence of academic and health benefits for older students.

Superintendent Doctor Hillman summarized the district—s multi-month process and the three pathways under consideration: keep the current schedule, move all start times back about 40 minutes, or implement a partial "flip" that would have elementary students start earlier and secondary students later. "We know the value of starting high school students later," Hillman said, framing the options as a governance trade-off between student benefits and operational costs.

Director of finance Val Mirdestorf and representatives from Benjamin Bus presented the transportation modeling that shaped much of the board—s discussion. Mirdestorf said the district is projecting 4,089.2 adjusted pupil units for 2026–27 and that transportation and special-education funding changes are important budgetary pressure points. Nancy Johnson of Benjamin Bus explained that a straight 40-minute delay would be "operationally simplest" and roughly neutral in cost, while a full flip would likely require adding about 11 afternoon bus routes and, by current estimates, more than $500,000 in recurring annual expense. Johnson said some rural elementary students could experience afternoon rides approaching 90 minutes in the flip model unless the district adds buses.

Board members repeatedly returned to the fiscal trade-offs. One member said an additional cost in the mid-six-figure range would be "a nonstarter" without identifying ongoing offsets; another asked how many students would see very long rides under the single-bus afternoon scenario (the administration estimated roughly 170 students could be affected in the lower-cost scenario that would add only one bus).

Members also discussed community engagement. The superintendent proposed a focused pulse survey and an outreach timeline that would include a May 14 public input meeting and further discussion at the May 26 board meeting; several members favored turning the May 14 session into a staff-led work session to sharpen survey questions and gather case studies from other districts. The board did not make a decision on start times Monday. Hillman said any change would be timed for the 2028–29 school year to give families and staff a long implementation runway.

What—s next: The board directed administration to prepare a short survey and a May 14 work session (to be recorded) that will present targeted options and examples from districts that have changed start times. The board will revisit the topic at future meetings before any formal vote.