CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A new proposal would change start times as much as 40 minutes for some Chesapeake public schools beginning in September 2020.
The proposed changes presented at Monday night’s school board meeting come as Chesapeake, like many local school districts, faces a shortage of school bus drivers. Chesapeake is even offering signing bonuses up to $500 to get drivers on board.
Chesapeake Schools say they want to streamline their bus operations to ensure on-time arrivals and have fewer “double” bus runs, in which the driver drops off one group of kids before returning to school to get another set. They’re also looking to space out times between runs to reduce stress on bus drivers and ease congestion.
Plans call for just three start times: 7:35 a.m., 8:15 a.m., 8:55 a.m.
Under the proposal about 3/4 of schools would see a change of 20 minutes or less, though three schools, Western Branch Primary, Indian River Middle and Oscar Smith Middle, would see the 40 minute difference.
The changes would mainly affect elementary to middle school students. High schoolers, who start closer to 9 a.m., would see relatively little change.
Chesapeake was already ahead of the curve for later high school start times. Virginia Beach is considering moving its high school start times from 7:20 a.m. to after 9 a.m., and Norfolk’s school board voted earlier this year to move high school times to between 8:50 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Elsewhere: So far, VB survey shows community wants to keep current school start times
You can make your thoughts known on the proposed changes in a survey. The proposal is open for public comment until December 10.
Click here to read the full presentation.
