The Anchorage School Board is expected to decide at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday whether to change school start times — a decision that could impact a large swath of the Anchorage community, including students in all grades.
The decision comes after roughly a year of discussions, community meetings, surveys and a consultant-led study of the start-time issue. If the board votes to shift school schedules, the changes would go into effect next school year.
Here's the recommendation the board is considering:
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Anchorage School District Superintendent Deena Bishop brought forward the recommendation in August. She wants high schools to start and end 30 minutes later; middle schools to start and end one hour and 15 minutes later; and elementary schools to start and end 15 minutes earlier.
"The final recommended scenario represents the best compromise between the need to address the sleep needs of students and the desire to avoid significant disruption in current family schedules," the district says on its website.
The Anchorage School Board last voted on whether to change school start times in 2002. The board sided with then-Superintendent Carol Comeau, who said the district should continue researching the issue because there was no community consensus about what to do, according to an Anchorage Daily News article.
Also on Monday night's school board agenda: whether to approve calendars for the next three school years that would extend Thanksgiving break by three days and move the first day of school three days earlier.
Starr Marsett, board president, said she expected the board to vote on both possible scheduling changes Monday evening. The board will also have time for public testimony before the votes.
There are currently six members on the school board after Bettye Davis resigned from her seat in September. The board is taking applications now to fill her spot. In the meantime, if the six board members split, a 3-3 vote means the motion they are considering fails.
School board meetings are held at 5530 E. Northern Lights Blvd. You can also stream the meetings online at youtube.com/user/AnchorageSD or in the video player below. Here's the full agenda.
Check back on adn.com later tonight for more from the Anchorage School Board meeting.
Previous coverage:
The Anchorage School District is considering changing school start times. What do you think?
2 new start-time options unveiled for Anchorage schools
Anchorage parents are split over possible changes to school start times, survey shows
Longer Thanksgiving break, earlier August start? Anchorage School Board split on school calendar