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Parents and teachers in Volusia County are voting on new public school schedules for elementary through high school students through March 25. The changes come after school leaders decided to add 30 extra minutes to the elementary school day.

Volusia County school board members say the new schedules support research showing later start times improve educational outcomes.

But Elizabeth Albert of Volusia United Educators, a union representing school faculty and staff, says the changes could mean elementary school starts as early as 7:20 and high school starts as late as 9:10 which could disrupt families’ routines.

“Right now we do want things to stay as is. Right now we have a system that is functioning and has functioned this way for many years. And so our parents, and our students we all have a system in place that’s been working for quite some time and so I think to upend all of that in a very short period of time is reckless.”

Albert says these changes could even affect child care, transportation, and after-school programs.

But the district’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Akin says the changes will not only improve student performance in the classroom but:

“Looking at the start and end times and adjusting for transportation using a three-tier process would save funding for the school district in the long run.”

The link to online voting can be found here.

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