Missoula public schools move forward with bell schedule changes (2024)

SKYLAR RISPENS

Missoula County Public Schools will move forward with a new bell schedule this upcoming school year that will impact all students.

The schedule changes include a common release time for elementary students and a later start for high school students, while middle school students will be expected to begin their days earlier.

"I think this is a big step forward for our district in terms of getting some things done that we've wanted to do for a lot of years," said superintendent Rob Watson.

For the past few years the district wanted to work toward a later start for high schools, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic it was able to pilot a new schedule, Watson said.

High school teachers noticed improvements during the school year to students' participation in class in the morning as well as their mental health, Watson said.

A district committee recommended a later start for high school students in 2018, citing “academic and social/emotional benefits.”

High school students will begin at 8:55 a.m. and conclude the day at 3:55 p.m.

“In the fall our sun starts setting earlier so every time you push that back a little while then it really does impact the after-school activities, so that’s one thing we’re a little worried about,” Watson said.

But he’s optimistic that with the later start there’s the possibility that the district could run practices in the morning or employ a zero period to work around those challenges.

Additionally, the district aimed to solve problems with the staggered release time for elementary students. Students in grades kindergarten through third grade used to be released a half hour before students in fourth and fifth grade.

“We’d have to run the buses twice and it just seemed really inefficient, so we were able to fix that too with this new schedule,” Watson said.

All elementary students will start the day at 8:15 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. with the new schedule.

Middle school students will have the earliest mornings, starting the day at 7:50 a.m. and ending by 2:45 p.m. The district explained in a May board meeting that the earlier start time was necessary for busing to accommodate the late start time at the high schools.

“It’s definitely earlier than we would like,” Watson said. “We would love to be able to adjust that in future years, we’re just going to have to work with our bus contractor to figure that out.”

Trustees and community members voiced concerns at a May meeting about the early start time for middle school students and how much earlier some students will have to catch their bus.

The district operated on a shorter schedule last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not have to meet the state-required 1,080 instructional hours. This school year the district will operate to meet the required hours of instruction.

Thursdays will still be shorter days to accommodate professional development. Elementary schools will be released early at 2:30 p.m. and middle schools will end at 2 p.m. Rather than an early release, high schools will have an even later start time beginning at 9:40 a.m. with the day concluding at 3:55 p.m.

School bell schedules have a large impact on the entire community, Watson said. Local employers have parents who will need to adjust to the changes, as well as high school workers who may not be able to start their shifts as early in the afternoon after class.

The district will reassess the bell schedule times after the upcoming school year concludes.

"We won't find a perfect schedule that works for everybody, but we want to find a schedule that works for most," Watson said.