Moore County Schools Change Start Times for 13 Schools

A Vass-Lakeview Elementary School student heads to her bus after school Thursday. Photo by Hannah Sharpe

As of Friday, June 8, 2012

Moore County Schools officials used the final day of the school year Friday to roll out new start times for some schools come August.

The changes are due to what officials term a “cost savings measure,” specifically involving what the school system pays to run its buses.

While many schools will retain the same schedule as in the 2011-2012 school year, 13 of the 23 schools will have alterations in their starting and ending times.

“Moving the start time for high schools to 9 a.m. during the present school year allowed elementary and high schools to share buses,” said Chief Finance Officer Mike Griffin. “This enabled the transportation department to park 18 to 20 buses, which has resulted in a cost savings of nearly $400,000 for the school district this year.”

Moore County Schools’ Superintendent Aaron Spence said he was made aware of some of what he called the “challenges” presented by the schedule change. Soon after his arrival, Spence said high school principals asked that the administration look into the possibility of an earlier start time as a result of some of the challenges they faced regarding athletics and other after-school activities.

“I informed the principals and the board that we would take a close look at what start and dismissal times would best serve our schools. However, no changes would be made that would negatively impact our budget,” Spence said.

District administrators met with a variety of officials, including principals from all grade levels, transportation department members, and school teams comprised of teachers, parents and students to discuss possible changes.

“State law requires a minimum number of hours of instruction, as well as a minimum number of days, so that must be our first consideration when determining the length of the school day,” said Spence. “While providing the best schedule possible for maximum learning and practicing fiscal responsibility, we also want to be sensitive to our families’ schedules.”

Come the new school year in August, Pinecrest, Union Pines and North Moore high schools will change from their current schedule of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Union Pines and North Moore will begin classes at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. for the 2012-2013 school year, while Pinecrest will hold classes from 8:45 a.m. until 3:45 p.m.

Area II elementary schools will see an alteration in their schedules. Highfalls, Robbins and Westmoore elementary schools will all change to a 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. schedule, beginning and ending 15 minutes earlier than in the current year.

In the Pinecrest High attendance Area III, Spence said there were “greater challenges” which required more variety in schedules.

“Aberdeen Elementary and Southern Pines Elementary will see a change of 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than in 2011-2012. Because they share buses with Aberdeen Primary and Southern Pines Primary, the two primary schools will run a daily schedule of 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., also 15 minutes earlier than this year.”

Southern Middle School will run a daily schedule of 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than the school’s present schedule, in order to share buses with Pinecrest.

West Pine Elementary’s schedule will remain the same at 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Pinehurst Elementary will begin 15 minutes earlier at 7:30 a.m. and dismiss at 2:30 p.m.

“This schedule best supports the dual track, year-round and traditional schedules, at those schools,” Spence said. “With West Pine Elementary and West Pine Middle sharing adjacent campuses, West Pine Middle will, therefore, operate from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 a.m. at no change from the current year. This will help to manage traffic flow.”

West End Elementary will also be sharing buses with the high school, with the school’s schedule moving 15 minutes earlier to 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for 2012-2013.

The Pinckney Academy Alternative School schedule will remain unchanged from the present school year at 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Contact John Lentz at (910) 693-2479 or jlentz@thepilot. com.

More like this story

mcguy1 11 months, 1 week ago

I dont get how one bus running 2 routes saves anymore money than 2 busses running a seperate route at the same time to leave school times 8-3.

doughnuts 11 months, 1 week ago

Why do buses go home with the drivers?

NocOwl 11 months, 1 week ago

Quote: "I dont get how one bus running 2 routes saves anymore money than 2 busses running a seperate route at the same time to leave school times 8-3."

Not as many buses running = less in maintenance costs and less bus drivers salaries.

mcgal 11 months, 1 week ago

Back in the day when students drove the school buses our routes were drawn with regards to where we lived. Taking the buses home saved gas. We were paid $25-$30.00 a month. A lot of responsibility for a 16-year old but our safety record was pretty good.

native 11 months, 1 week ago

Back when I drove, we picked up all age students in one trip, then just drop off at one school, then drove to the next school. This would save many miles.

mcguy1 11 months, 1 week ago

but one bus and one driver is doing twice the work.

FormerResidentofthePines 11 months, 1 week ago

What I don't understand is why they scheduled the elementary children to be at school at 7:45 a.m. while the high school kids go in at 9:00 a.m., that is absolutely ridiculous. Why should the younger kids get to school earlier than the older kids. The younger ones need more sleep and the older kids could get to school earlier and get out earlier to go to a "job" or "work" afterschool. The age of entitlement. I remember being at school by 7:30 or 8:00 and getting out at 2:30 to go to work.

member 11 months, 1 week ago

I would assume part of the reasoning for the high school kids starting later is the idea that they stay up later regardless of start time. If we have them going in at 7:15, they would still stay up until 10 or 11 resulting in less sleep overall. The younger kids should have earlier bedtimes anyway. It actually makes a lot of sense. Some people just really struggle with the idea of change of any kind.

Bflat 11 months, 1 week ago

In days of old...one route was run picking up elementary school kids and high school kids. That same bus driven by a high school student went on to the h.s. If the number of students riding on to the h.s. dropped below a certain number, the bus was left at the elementary school and the h.s. students got on an assigned bus going to their school. This required consistent coordination but didn't present that much of a problem.