Vancouver/Camas public school start time changes (Ridgefield: homes, buying)

[MtnSurfer]

As we're reviewing school districts for our daughters to potentially attend, we discovered start times vary quite a bit. We currently homeschool our three teenagers who we find perform best when they start a little bit later ~8:30 am. That just fits our family more. So we were glad to see that Camas and Evergreen school districts moved high school start times to an hour later at ~ 8:40 am.

I found the research interesting showing better performance and safety (fewer auto accidents) when teens started high school later. That said, I'm sure there were rebuttals and reasons why some districts do not want to change times. We were kind of surprised that the rest of Vancouver hasn't followed suit yet. Even if not a big deal for some families, starting later is for our kids.

Question: do you think Vancouver's primary district will consider later start times? Both Skyview and Columbia River start at 7:30 am currently.

Thanks,

Derek

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

As we're reviewing school districts for our daughters to potentially attend, we discovered start times vary quite a bit. We currently homeschool our three teenagers who we find perform best when they start a little bit later ~8:30 am. That just fits our family more. So we were glad to see that Camas and Evergreen school districts moved high school start times to an hour later at ~ 8:40 am.

I found the research interesting showing better performance and safety (fewer auto accidents) when teens started high school later. That said, I'm sure there were rebuttals and reasons why some districts do not want to change times. We were kind of surprised that the rest of Vancouver hasn't followed suit yet. Even if not a big deal for some families, starting later is for our kids.

Question: do you think Vancouver's primary district will consider later start times? Both Skyview and Columbia River start at 7:30 am currently.

Thanks,

Derek

Camas and Evergreen switched to later start recently. Vancouver and Ridgefield did not. Who knows if they will change in the future. A LOT of parents object to the late start schedules because it conflicts with their ability to drop their kids off on the way to work. Late start works better in more affluent areas where there is a stay-home parent or professional with more flexible schedules to accommodate the late schedule.

Late start would be an easier pill for a lot of families if they had some sort of before school programs available for parents who needed to drop their children earlier. The district we attended back in Texas had early morning programs starting at 7 am and after school programs going until about 5:30 or so. You had to pay for it. The had HS students doing the before and after school care. But it worked well. Nothing like that in Camas. Well...there is one place in the downtown area with early drop-off but it is complely inconvenient compared to a program at one's home campus.

There are a LOT of logistics involved with schedule changes, especially with bus routes. But who knows what Vancouver is planning.

[Jane917]

My many years in public education have taught me that one of the biggest influences on start/end times are the bus schedules. The busses just can't get everyone to different schools at the same time.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane917

My many years in public education have taught me that one of the biggest influences on start/end times are the bus schedules. The busses just can't get everyone to different schools at the same time.

This.

And a lot of districts run back to back routes for elementary and secondary. So you either haul the HS kids first then circle back for the primary kids. Or you do the reverse. One of them has to start first.

The alternative is to spend millions more on more buses and bus drivers.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

This.

And a lot of districts run back to back routes for elementary and secondary. So you either haul the HS kids first then circle back for the primary kids. Or you do the reverse. One of them has to start first.

The alternative is to spend millions more on more buses and bus drivers.

or... as with nearly every other country in the world... NO School buses (great idea!)

there are other options (many)

USA = kinda expensive public education burden (Only because it is SO EZ to fund!, and fiscal mismanagement gets rewarded. )

I am also kinda fond on using 1/2 the school facilities and 1/2 the teachers by running (2 shifts/ day); one group of (40+) students from 7AM - noon, same teacher, same facility... = second batch of (40+) students 1PM - 6PM. Saturdays, both groups show up for 8AM - 2pm 'special 1/2 day sessions'

There are options (many)

Even options for NO dedicated school buildings

and... the test scores are MUCH higher in these countries.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

or... as with nearly every other country in the world... NO School buses (great idea!)

there are other options (many)

USA = kinda expensive public education burden (Only because it is SO EZ to fund!, and fiscal mismanagement gets rewarded. )

I am also kinda fond on using 1/2 the school facilities and 1/2 the teachers by running (2 shifts/ day); one group of (40+) students from 7AM - noon, same teacher, same facility... = second batch of (40+) students 1PM - 6PM. Saturdays, both groups show up for 8AM - 2pm 'special 1/2 day sessions'

There are options (many)

Even options for NO dedicated school buildings

and... the test scores are MUCH higher in these countries.

A lot of other developed European countries have MUCH safer pedestrian and bike infrastructure so kids can actually safely walk and bike to school. And they locate their schools in the center of towns not on narrow country roads (like Camas HS) so that kids can more easily get to school on their own. And they have reliable public transit so kids can take public transit to school rather than school buses. Until we have those things here, I'm afraid the yellow school buses are going to still be with us, especially in sprawling suburbia.

Good luck finding teachers eager to deal with kids from 7 am to 6 pm. Add prep and cleanup time and you are talking about a 6:30 am to 6:30 pm teaching day at minimum. That makes me exhausted just thinking about it. And woe to that exhausting special needs kid who gets 5-6 pm shift from that teacher.

[Jane917]

My junior year in high school was on split shift. I would not wish that on anyone. It is only an option where severe overcrowding is an issue. In my case, Orange County CA was exploding in the 60s. My district was building a new high school that would open my senior year. The district decided that my class had spent too much time in junior high moving from school to school, then to split shift, that they kept us all together our senior year. The new high school opened without a senior class. My high school was almost all seniors. I am sure the administration soon regretted that decision, but we sure had a fun year.

[Shadesofkray]

Camas has elementary school students starting before High School, correct?. Are there any other surrounding districts that do it that way?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Shadesofkray

Camas has elementary school students starting before High School, correct?. Are there any other surrounding districts that do it that way?

I'm not aware of any off the top of my head. Evergreen moved to later start for it's high schools (the same 8:40 start time as Camas HS) but the elementary schools have even later start at 9-something am.

Most if not all districts double up on their bus routes and drivers so they are all going to have staggered start tiimes to avoid buying 2x more buses and paying 2x more drivers.