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Vote planned for Pinellas school start times
The school board will soon vote on updated start times for Pinellas County schools. FOX 13's Kellie Cowan reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pinellas County school board members are considering proposed changes to start and release times at three high schools and one middle school.
Under the proposal, St. Pete High School and Dunedin High School would both start at 7:45 a.m. Largo High School would start at 7:35 a.m.
The most significant change would impact Largo Middle School, where students could start at 7:25 a.m. instead of the current 9:40 a.m. bell time. That would move the school day more than two hours earlier.
District leaders say the goal is to align middle school and high school schedules, so students can share transportation routes.
Why does the district want the change?
School officials say the adjustments are driven by transportation efficiency.
Transportation Director T. Mark Hagewood explained that drivers typically complete three separate routes each morning, which requires careful spacing between start times.
"Each driver usually drives three runs in the morning. High school, elementary and middle school. So they have to be spaced out to do the next run. So we look at that for efficiency. We tried to move a couple high schools closer to 8 o clock, past 7:30 and then the one high school we are going to combine with the middle school to get some efficiency with that as well," Hagewood said.
What could still change
District leaders say the proposed times are approximate and could shift by up to 15 minutes in either direction.
Officials also say this approach may expand to other schools in the future as the district looks for additional transportation efficiencies.
What's next:
The Pinellas County School Board is expected to vote on the proposed bell schedule changes later this evening.
If approved, families at the affected schools would see adjustments to their daily schedules starting next school year.
Why you should care:
The change could significantly impact morning routines for families, particularly those with students at Largo Middle School, where the proposed shift would move the school day more than two hours earlier.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Pinellas County School District officials, including Transportation Director T. Mark Hagewood, along with details presented ahead of the Pinellas County School Board meeting.