D-38 board members discuss ‘feasibility’ of changing school start times

School start times are quickly becoming a nationwide discussion, sparking debates in school districts across the country and here in Colorado.

Lewis-Palmer School District 38 board members will meet Tuesday night to discuss how feasible possible changes would be for Monument schools.

“There’s a lot of things involved, it’s not as simple as it looks,” said Mark Pfoff, a board member for the district.

Pfoff said the main priority is to review the survey and discuss how the district would want to move forward.

“I don’t want any parents to be concerned that we might be changing start times next year,” he said. “At this point, we’re just looking long term if this is something we can look into.”

The question is whether younger students should start school earlier and older students start later.

The opinions are mixed. The school board conducted a survey and found that 53 percent of parents with elementary school students disapprove shifting to an earlier time.

More than 60 percent of parents with middle or high school students prefer the later start times

The changes for elementary schools would mean a start time of 7:30 a.m., instead of the current 8:45 a.m. start time.

The changes for middle school would bring a start time of 8:55 a.m., instead of 7:23 a.m. High school start times would change from 7:40 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

Months of research and community meetings is needed before any kind of vote will be considered.