All of the schools could basically start at the same time if it were for transportation. The county could have cut way back on bus service and make people get their kids to school on their own. Would that have helped?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'll be doing before care at the school this year. Our bus won't come until 9:05, and school starts at 9:25. Luckily our before care is not full yet.

I do find it pretty crazy though that the school bus isn't scheduled to leave the school until 3:57! That seems so late. Meaning DD won't get off the bus until about 4:20?

Yes, they will be walking home as the sun is getting ready to set in December. My DD is in tier 2 and it is terrible. It also messed up sports practices too. The only option is 6-7pm and by late Sept that is too dark. So luckily the county allowed a :30 start time for 5:30 which they normally won't.

I agree that 3:50 pm is late to get out of school. But it's useful to have some perspective. The earliest sunset of the year is 4:43 pm, for December 3-12. Unless the child really dawdles on their walk home, they're not going to be walking home at sunset, even in the first week of December.

Many kids participate in after school clubs after school and walk home. So they will be walking home in the dark.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Tier 2 school, and my kids will start at 925am, meaning about a 9am bus stop. It's awful - the school bus now comes later than the Metro buses in our neighborhood, which makes it impossible for anyone to use public transportation. And it puts many of us on the roads into DC after the rush hour protocols have ended, which will extend commute times considerably. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the kids will be getting on the bus after rush hour has already begun in our area (near NIH.) So, much longer trips home. Thanks MCPS!

I'm all for pushing back bell times for older kids, BTW. But I doubt they get much benefit from a 20 minute AM reprieve. And there should have been much more careful consideration of the impact of simply randomly pushing back ALL bell times.

I live in the NIH neighborhood, although must be at a different school, because we are Tier 1. (Not really sure where you could live, because the Wyngate catch area circles around most of NIH -- maybe you're south of NIH?). At any rate, the metro buses and ride on run pretty regularly even after 9 -- I regularly go in after 9, and take either the metro bus or ride on. Or you can always walk to metro, which I also do if I just miss a bus. The only rush hour protocols I can think of are Connecticut Avenue, which run until 9:30, so if you leave after the school bus pickup, you'll be pretty far down CT by the time they stop the reversibles. And traffic gets pretty light at that time of day.
I agree that it's bad news for all those people that need to be at work by 9 or 9:30, but, if you think it will make it "impossible for anyone to use public transportation," I respectfully suggest that you double-check the bus times, because they do run pretty frequently even after 9. I am anxious to see how the evening commute will screw up the afternoon buses..but my observation is that the commuting tangle in our neighborhood starts around 3 (or earlier), so I'm not sure that the 3:25 end will make that much of a difference.

I'm the first poster in this, and we live east of NIH in the Rosemary Hills/CCES&NCC/BCC zone. I respectfully suggest that what works in your neighborhood doesn't necessarily work in every neighborhood, PP. You have a Tier 1 start time and can walk to the metro, good for you. Surprise surprise, that's not true for everyone.

If you want the specifics, the J1 was changed last year, so it's last AM time was already a bit of stretch (e.g., parents would leave the kid at the busstop with other parents and try to catch the last bus), but now the last J1 will arrive at least 1/2 hour before the MCPS bus. Taking the L8 on Conn Ave at the 9am hour is basically impossible; it can be an hour plus to get to Friendship Heights metro, by the time I could get to downtown it would 1030am.

And no, if I put my kid on the bus at 9/905am (since it's never on time) and head for downtown, I will not make it through Van Ness and Cleveland Park before the 930am switch from 4 open inbound lanes to 2 open inbound lanes. I've done this every day for 6 years now, so I know the traffic patterns all too well. With an 845/850 bus pickup, I used to be able to squeak into the office at 930am some days, and close enough on others. Now the baseline will be 10am.

But PP, if you'd like I'd be happy to switch - your elementary can start at 925 and then you can lecture me on how easy it is for working parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1

Everyone complaining "where is all the money going to?" take a look at the costs to plan and decide this "huge" change. Meanwhile schools and additions that need to be built continue to get put on hold for lack of funding and our school currently has 7 portables. Changing bell times was not a priority. Parents taking away cell phones at night would resolve the sleep deprivation.

Changing bell times was not a priority for you (or for me). But it was clearly a priority for a vocal minority, and current science is on their side.

The science was that HS kids needed to be starting a full hour or more later. Not 20 minutes. This half-measure doesn't solve the adolescent sleep issue, while royally screwing over families of ES kids where both parents WOH.

You're right, it doesn't eliminate the high school sleep problem. It does lessen the high school sleep problem, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1

Everyone complaining "where is all the money going to?" take a look at the costs to plan and decide this "huge" change. Meanwhile schools and additions that need to be built continue to get put on hold for lack of funding and our school currently has 7 portables. Changing bell times was not a priority. Parents taking away cell phones at night would resolve the sleep deprivation.

Changing bell times was not a priority for you (or for me). But it was clearly a priority for a vocal minority, and current science is on their side.

The science was that HS kids needed to be starting a full hour or more later. Not 20 minutes. This half-measure doesn't solve the adolescent sleep issue, while royally screwing over families of ES kids where both parents WOH.

Anonymous wrote:

+1

Everyone complaining "where is all the money going to?" take a look at the costs to plan and decide this "huge" change. Meanwhile schools and additions that need to be built continue to get put on hold for lack of funding and our school currently has 7 portables. Changing bell times was not a priority. Parents taking away cell phones at night would resolve the sleep deprivation.

Changing bell times was not a priority for you (or for me). But it was clearly a priority for a vocal minority, and current science is on their side.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'll be doing before care at the school this year. Our bus won't come until 9:05, and school starts at 9:25. Luckily our before care is not full yet.

I do find it pretty crazy though that the school bus isn't scheduled to leave the school until 3:57! That seems so late. Meaning DD won't get off the bus until about 4:20?

Yes, they will be walking home as the sun is getting ready to set in December. My DD is in tier 2 and it is terrible. It also messed up sports practices too. The only option is 6-7pm and by late Sept that is too dark. So luckily the county allowed a :30 start time for 5:30 which they normally won't.

I agree that 3:50 pm is late to get out of school. But it's useful to have some perspective. The earliest sunset of the year is 4:43 pm, for December 3-12. Unless the child really dawdles on their walk home, they're not going to be walking home at sunset, even in the first week of December.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I knew of a perfect solution. NOT changing the bell times. Not spending the 5 million to research the options and 5+ more million to implement it. For a school system so in need of millions that was $10-15 million extra right there. Teens get 20 more minutes of sleep and now the ES kids get higher class ratios. What an F'd up system of wasted money.

No, that's not a perfect solution. High schools really did start too early. Middle schools, too.

Says who? My kids were fine with it and got home before dinner even with sports. Those 20 minutes won't help anyone, especially ES teachers, working parents and coaches. The teens will just stay up later texting away. Do you really think they will be getting 20min more of sleep? My first bell was 7:08am in HS. Last bell was 1:58pm. Kids played sports or worked after classes. Homework at night. We all did just fine.

You honestly think it was worth an extra $15 million dollars of the budget? And you think it is fair Tier 2 ES kids are getting off a school bus close to dusk in the winter. All for 20 minutes?

+1

Everyone complaining "where is all the money going to?" take a look at the costs to plan and decide this "huge" change. Meanwhile schools and additions that need to be built continue to get put on hold for lack of funding and our school currently has 7 portables. Changing bell times was not a priority. Parents taking away cell phones at night would resolve the sleep deprivation.

Anonymous wrote:We'll be doing before care at the school this year. Our bus won't come until 9:05, and school starts at 9:25. Luckily our before care is not full yet.

I do find it pretty crazy though that the school bus isn't scheduled to leave the school until 3:57! That seems so late. Meaning DD won't get off the bus until about 4:20?

Yes, they will be walking home as the sun is getting ready to set in December. My DD is in tier 2 and it is terrible. It also messed up sports practices too. The only option is 6-7pm and by late Sept that is too dark. So luckily the county allowed a :30 start time for 5:30 which they normally won't.

We'll be doing before care at the school this year. Our bus won't come until 9:05, and school starts at 9:25. Luckily our before care is not full yet.

I do find it pretty crazy though that the school bus isn't scheduled to leave the school until 3:57! That seems so late. Meaning DD won't get off the bus until about 4:20?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do we find the new bus schedules?

Bus Routes for all schools, including magnet/HGC/special.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/transportation/busroutes/

Thanks for posting. I don't see the afternoon routes though, am I missing it from this link? Thanks

My MS and ES have the AM and PM schedules on their individual MCPS websites. No idea why they aren't listed here. I'd call the Bus Depot for your cluster. Or the school..

OP, we have the opposite issue. We are also in a Tier 1 school and were looking forward to the 10 extra minutes to let the kids sleep, but the new bus time is only about 8 minutes later than last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do we find the new bus schedules?

Bus Routes for all schools, including magnet/HGC/special.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/transportation/busroutes/

Thanks for posting. I don't see the afternoon routes though, am I missing it from this link? Thanks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Tier 2 school, and my kids will start at 925am, meaning about a 9am bus stop. It's awful - the school bus now comes later than the Metro buses in our neighborhood, which makes it impossible for anyone to use public transportation. And it puts many of us on the roads into DC after the rush hour protocols have ended, which will extend commute times considerably. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the kids will be getting on the bus after rush hour has already begun in our area (near NIH.) So, much longer trips home. Thanks MCPS!

I'm all for pushing back bell times for older kids, BTW. But I doubt they get much benefit from a 20 minute AM reprieve. And there should have been much more careful consideration of the impact of simply randomly pushing back ALL bell times.

I live in the NIH neighborhood, although must be at a different school, because we are Tier 1. (Not really sure where you could live, because the Wyngate catch area circles around most of NIH -- maybe you're south of NIH?). At any rate, the metro buses and ride on run pretty regularly even after 9 -- I regularly go in after 9, and take either the metro bus or ride on. Or you can always walk to metro, which I also do if I just miss a bus. The only rush hour protocols I can think of are Connecticut Avenue, which run until 9:30, so if you leave after the school bus pickup, you'll be pretty far down CT by the time they stop the reversibles. And traffic gets pretty light at that time of day.
I agree that it's bad news for all those people that need to be at work by 9 or 9:30, but, if you think it will make it "impossible for anyone to use public transportation," I respectfully suggest that you double-check the bus times, because they do run pretty frequently even after 9. I am anxious to see how the evening commute will screw up the afternoon buses..but my observation is that the commuting tangle in our neighborhood starts around 3 (or earlier), so I'm not sure that the 3:25 end will make that much of a difference.

Where I live (not near NIH), the elementary schools already started too late for many people to be able to use public transportation, BEFORE the 20-minute shift. But that's because the public transportation is inadequate.

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Tier 2 school, and my kids will start at 925am, meaning about a 9am bus stop. It's awful - the school bus now comes later than the Metro buses in our neighborhood, which makes it impossible for anyone to use public transportation. And it puts many of us on the roads into DC after the rush hour protocols have ended, which will extend commute times considerably. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the kids will be getting on the bus after rush hour has already begun in our area (near NIH.) So, much longer trips home. Thanks MCPS!

I'm all for pushing back bell times for older kids, BTW. But I doubt they get much benefit from a 20 minute AM reprieve. And there should have been much more careful consideration of the impact of simply randomly pushing back ALL bell times.

I live in the NIH neighborhood, although must be at a different school, because we are Tier 1. (Not really sure where you could live, because the Wyngate catch area circles around most of NIH -- maybe you're south of NIH?). At any rate, the metro buses and ride on run pretty regularly even after 9 -- I regularly go in after 9, and take either the metro bus or ride on. Or you can always walk to metro, which I also do if I just miss a bus. The only rush hour protocols I can think of are Connecticut Avenue, which run until 9:30, so if you leave after the school bus pickup, you'll be pretty far down CT by the time they stop the reversibles. And traffic gets pretty light at that time of day.
I agree that it's bad news for all those people that need to be at work by 9 or 9:30, but, if you think it will make it "impossible for anyone to use public transportation," I respectfully suggest that you double-check the bus times, because they do run pretty frequently even after 9. I am anxious to see how the evening commute will screw up the afternoon buses..but my observation is that the commuting tangle in our neighborhood starts around 3 (or earlier), so I'm not sure that the 3:25 end will make that much of a difference.