Local Chapters > Maryland > Howard County
Start School Later Howard County!
Our Goal: Safe and healthy school start times for
all Howard County Public Schools System (HCPSS) students.
See our Elections page for candidate views on safe, healthy, and age-appropriate school hours.
See our Resources page for flyers, graphics, and videos just for Start School Later Howard County.
History:
February 3, 2021: HCPSS announced that the hybrid school schedule which begins March 1st, will delay all schools 20 minutes. Elementary schools will start between 8:35 and 9:45 a.m., middle schools will begin between 8 and 8:45 a.m., and the first bell for all 12 high schools will be 7:45 a.m. The Continuity of Learning Schedule posted by HCPSS as a result of COVID-19 school closure, has no middle or high school starting class before 8 a.m. and some students may start at 9 a.m. Monday check-ins are a 9 a.m. Assignments due on Fridays at 10 a.m. HCPSS has discussed start times in an on-again/off-again manner since at least ~2013. Dr. Chao Wu, HCPSS Board of Education member, summarized some of the various options discussed over the past few years in an April 18, 2019 blog post, along with links to related documents. On December 19, 2017, The Board of Education was presented with 4 options of school start times that allows all schools to start between 8 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. They voted 6-1 to recind their February 2017 committment of change in 2018-2019 school year and school hours will remain the same. On Febraury 23, 2017, the Board of Education voted 6-2 to ask the Start Time Committee to develop new scenarios that have no school starting before 8 a.m. and no school starting after 9:25 a.m. On January 12, 2017 the Board of Education was presented with the community's feedback on the four options. At this meeting, the Board delayed any start time implementation until the 2018-2019 school year. A public hearing was held February 7th. On November 17, 2016, the Board of Education was presented with four options from the School Start and Dismissal Time Committee (SSDT). The Howard County School Start and Closing Time Committee website can be found here. |
Join Us!
If you are social, join our Facebook Group or Like our Facebook Page. Or send us an email using the contact form below. Sign our petition
|
News and Action:
|
|
▼ THIS IS YOUR POP WINDOW ▼