DETROIT – The Detroit Public Schools Community District is considering pushing the start time at its high schools to 9 a.m.
DPSCD said moving the time back would lead to better rested students who would do better in school. Also, changing the start time would save the district money on bus costs.
A later start time would mean high school students would be in school until 4:20 p.m.
If the change is made, it would make the start time earlier at some elementary schools. The start time at Henderson, T. Marshall, Garvey and Nichols would be moved up to 7:30 a.m., while the start times at Emerson and Clippert would become later.
Parents are split on the possible changes.
Yvonne Carson’s daughter attends Cass Tech High School.
“My first thought is I need to be at work at 8:30 in the morning,” Carson said. “An extra hour of sleep … it is a catch 22.”
The changes were presented at the Academic Committee and Finance meeting this week. They will move on to a Jan. 14 board meeting. Also, the teacher’s union still needs to give its opinion about the proposal.