VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Virginia Beach Public School administrators are once again asking if students, staff and parents want to change school start times or keep them the same.
The school system created a new survey asking “Are you in favor of shifting school start times?”
Research shows a later start time is better for overall health and wellness.
Virginia Beach school officials have been looking into the possibility of changing school start times since 2015. Since then, the school board has held numerous meetings and conducted surveys on the subject matter. A year ago, the school board voted unanimously to change school start times, but it’s still not a done deal.
Based on all the research, they have proposed shifting elementary and high schools to an earlier start time and have launched another survey to gauge the community’s opinion.
Proposed Start Times
- Elementary A Schools: 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Elementary B Schools: 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- Middle Schools: 8:40 a.m. – 3:10 p.m.
- High Schools: 9:20 a.m. – 4:10 p.m.
Current Schedule
- Elementary A Schools: 8:10 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
- Elementary B Schools: 8:40 a.m. – 3:10 p.m.
- Middle Schools: 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- High Schools: 7:20 a.m. – 2:10 p.m.
The survey is open through Wednesday, Nov. 20 and can be completed by parents, students, employees and community members.
The survey and the responses are accessible to the public at this link.
The website was experiencing issues over the weekend because of the high demand of people trying to take the survey.
At last check, more than 15,000 people have participated in the survey, with 75% voting to maintain the current schedule.
Norfolk Public Schools voted over the summer to implement new start times for the 2020-2021 school year. Click here to see the changes to the NPS schedule.
