Elementary School - 9am Start in age of RTO

[Anonymous]

We used to have before care, but the whole parking, signing them in, of before care is surprisingly slower than just dropping by them off. So we would have to get there EVEN earlier for a 9-5 office time.

Why is elementary still a 9am start; even dropping them off at 840, a modest 30 min commute will make you late.

Meanwhile middle schoolers who can manage public transit and walk to school have a 750 start time.

Why isn’t this being switch? Now with more and more RTO and less flex office hours?

[Anonymous]

Tier II schools in MCLS start at 9:25. School start times are based on bus availability and the need to have time for HS sports and jobs after school. Not convenience for parents. Little kids get up earlier too and HS kids need more sleep. It's been an issue for decades including when I went to school 20 years ago and there was no remote work.

[Anonymous]

They're talking about moving my kid's start to 9:50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tier II schools in MCLS start at 9:25. School start times are based on bus availability and the need to have time for HS sports and jobs after school. Not convenience for parents. Little kids get up earlier too and HS kids need more sleep. It's been an issue for decades including when I went to school 20 years ago and there was no remote work.

Of course sports are a priority, that tracks.

Honestly, drop the buses for high school - California doesn’t even have buses and they manager.

[Anonymous]

Our school bus comes at 9 so I am “late” even getting back to my home office after that! A lot of parents in our school use the before and aftercare. Fortunately our before care is a very quick and easy drop off.

[Anonymous]

So do most families with 9am start time get to work a little late and stay late, or early care.

Our early care is a ghost town, so feel like we are missing an easy button.

I wish they could use the playground in the morning, it would be a lot better than the stuck in the MP room for an hour.

[Anonymous]

RTO did not affect every single parent in the dc area. Plenty of us work jobs that weren’t affected.

However the real answer is that they need the buses for all schools. High school then middle school then first run elementary then second run elementary. Then the drivers go back for high school, middle school, elementary schools again to take them home.

They won’t switch elementary and high school start times because of sports practices and because some older siblings take care of their younger siblings after school.

[Anonymous]

It's laughable that you think RTO should have any impact on school start times. People have been going into the office for decades. Even during Covid. Break out of your little bubble.

[Anonymous]

Blame the HS parents whose teens are “so tired” from being online all night that they can’t wake up. They moved HS start time from 7:15 to 7:45 so they can get more sleep. It’s called being a parent and collecting cell phones by 10PM Sunday-Thursday and shutting down wifi overnight. It worked amazingly well with my late 20s kids and the same is true for my current teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're talking about moving my kid's start to 9:50.

I would riot if my child didn't start school until 9:50. Our neighborhood elementary starts at 9:15 which I find insane. DC goes to a private that starts at 8 which just works so much better for our schedules.

[Anonymous]

Hey lcps here with 7:20/7:40 starts. It’s not great either. I personally think they go overboard with buses. My entire school is within 2 miles- why do we need buses? If we got rid of them we could have all schools start at 8 or 8:30. I personally think it’s insane our middle school gets home at 5pm (bus drop off time). It’s too late for activities.

Also, we have a lot of poverty in my school. These elementary students are going home to empty houses because their parents are still at work and older siblings still at school.

[Anonymous]

Because the older kids have to come home first so they can take care of the younger kids.

[Anonymous]

Because the educational system does not revolve around federal government workers. The vast majority of parents in my kids' schools are not federal government employees.

[Anonymous]

Our DCPS starts at 8:45 and I was always mystified by how parents in other parts of the country are able to start work at 8am or 8:30am. Beforecare opens at 7:30am.

[Anonymous]

These are the exact schedules that existed before the mass exodus from the office in the time of Covid. People just have to figure it out. School isn’t babysitting and there are a lot of schedules that have to be accommodated within the school. The system can’t possibly consider all of the many work schedules that exist.