District considers new school start times

At the Nov. 29 School Board meeting, Deputy Superintendent David Reschke introduced information on school starting times recommendations.
The changes administrators are now implementing for the 2005-06 school year will require the district to alter the school start times and update forms of transportation. Currently, 39 percent of Clarkston High School students utilize the district’s transportation.
Reschke summarized six different plans on possible start time and transportation changes and stated that his team has narrowed the choices to two.
Currently, school hours for elementary are 8:40a.m.-3:50p.m. middle school are 7:50 a.m.-2:40 p.m., and high school are 7:30 a.m.-2:40 p.m.
The committee has narrowed its recommendation to Plans E or F. Plan E would require Clarkston High School and Clarkston Junior High School students to share transportation, with a start time of 7:30, and Sashabaw Middle School to start at 7:40. The elementary schools would be split up. Three of them would begin at 8:15 and four at 8:40. Plan F is almost identical, with the exception that all elementary schools would begin at 8:40 a.m.
Reschke explained that Plan E and F should eliminate the need for shuttles. He added that the proposal had relation to research on the time of day different age groups learn best. A final recommendation for the board’s review and decision will be at the Dec. 13 board meeting.