ROANOKE, Va. – Some students at Roanoke City Schools will be heading to the classroom at a different time next year.
On Tuesday, June 13, The Roanoke City School Board passed a staggered bell schedule in a unanimous vote.
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The goal is to help children get to class on time after ongoing transportation issues last year.
In the previous year alone, there were about 1,000 kids in the district who were late each day, 50% of which were over 10 minutes late, according to Chief Operations Officer, Chris Perkins.
Seeing a need for change, parents, teachers, bus drivers, school board members and Perkins came together in a transportation workshop to consider bell changes as a possible solution.
“This will allow us to have more drivers than routes. It will allow us to have substitutes. Keep in mind the opening of school is always problematic,” Perkins said during Tuesday’s school board meeting. “So I don’t want anyone to think it is going to be perfect. It will not be because there are just things with the opening of school, but we will have more drivers than routes and that is what is positive.”
The school system says the changes will allow bus transportation to be more consistent and reliable, increasing the number of buses and drivers available and allowing extra drivers to be available for sports and other activities.
Here’s a look at the new school start and end times:
| Schools | Start Time | End Time |
|---|---|---|
| Westside, Monterey, RAMS, Fallon Park, Preston Park, Round Hill and Lincoln Terrace | 7:30 a.m. | 2:15 p.m. |
| Fairview, Hurt Park, Wasena, Fishburn Park, Morningside, Highland Park, Crystal Spring, Virginia Heights, Grandin Court and Garden City | 8 a.m. | 2:45 p.m. |
| William Fleming, Forest Park, Patrick Henry, Noel C. Taylor | 8:30 a.m. | 3:15 p.m. |
| James Breckinridge, John P. Fishwick, Woodrow Wilson, James Madison and Lucy Addison | 9 a.m. | 3:45 p.m. |