Transportation issues forces changes to school hours

Several schools in Boulder City will be affected by the district’s recent decision to change the start and end times at some campuses in order to improve transportation.

Clark County School District announced the changes in a Jan. 14 press release and said they were being made to improve the on-time arrival rates for all bus routes.

Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, Mitchell and King elementary schools will start at 9 a.m. and end at 3:11 p.m. This year, Mitchell started at 8:30 a.m. and King started at 8:20 a.m.

“Currently, our students can be on campus starting at 8:15 (a.m.), so next year, that time will likely be 8:45 (a.m.),” said Principal Ben Day. “For the staff at Mitchell, I don’t expect the adjustment to be too difficult. I think the biggest adjustment … will be with the individual families who will have to make changes to work schedules, day care schedules and things of that nature.”

Boulder City High School’s start time will move back 40 minutes.

“BCHS will have a new start time for all students — 7 a.m.,” said Amy Wagner, principal. “As this information is new to all of us, we will be meeting in the next couple of weeks to determine how this will affect our master schedule.”

For Garrett Junior High School, their start time will be returning to its previous one, and Principal Melanie Teemant said she doesn’t foresee a big impact with the change.

“We will just move to the start and end times we have had for years,” she said. “The only reason we went to 7:45 (a.m.) this year was because the bus driver had to do enhanced cleaning between routes so they adjusted three of our start times. We will start at 8 and end at 2:11 just like we have done before.”

The new start and end times will be in effect for the first day of school, Aug. 8.

The district, along with others across the country, has experienced bus driver shortages this school year. Some parents have also reported frequent school bus delays, causing their children to arrive late for classes.

“Getting students to school on time is vital to student achievement,” CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara said in the press release. “The district is committed to maintaining bus services for our eligible students, and these changes will improve transportation service reliability and timeliness.”

The district provides bus service to about 125,000 students, less than half its student population, and has more than 1,500 routes and approximately 1,300 drivers.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Julie Wootton-Greener contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.