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Edmonds School District

School Start/End Times Committee

Start Time Survey

The Edmonds School District is exploring potential adjustments to school start times. Changes would be effective beginning in the 2026-27 school year. A joint committee of staff, community members, students, and families has been meeting to analyze various scheduling options, and we want to hear your input to help guide our next steps. Below is information regarding the potential change and links to surveys we hope you will take a few moments to complete. The surveys are available to families, students and staff, and are available in our top languages.

Why Consider Changes?

Research suggests that later start times for high school students improve academic outcomes, attendance, and well-being. Benefits include:

  • Higher attendance and graduation rates
  • Better academic performance and state test scores
  • Reduced depression, caffeine use, and substance abuse risk
  • Fewer car accidents among teen drivers

Meanwhile, studies indicate that earlier start times for elementary students have little to no negative impact on academic success. Some research even suggests improved math scores for certain student groups.

Key Considerations

There are some additional considerations that the committee felt important to share as we consider any proposals to change middle and high school start times to later.

  • Many high school students have jobs after school or have family childcare responsibilities for younger siblings and late dismissal times would have an impact on these obligations.
  • Roughly 50% of middle and high school students participate in extracurricular activities and athletics and later start times will result in missed instructional time due to the need to release them from school for athletic contest start times.
  • Moving high and middle school start and end times later will mean that elementary schools will start and end earlier.  We will need to work with our childcare partners to ensure adequate childcare is available both before and after school.

Current & Proposed Start Time Models

Currently, our district’s transportation system operates on a four-tier model:

  • Tier 1: 7:20 AM - 1:52 PM - All high schools
  • Tier 2: 8:05 AM - 2:35 PM - All middle schools and 3 elementary schools
  • Tier 3: 8:45 AM - 3:15 PM - 12 elementary schools
  • Tier 4: 9:25 AM - 3:55 PM - 8 elementary schools

Potential bus pick up and drop off times- in most situations, bus pick up and drop off times are around 40 minutes prior to the start/end of school.

We are evaluating two options for later middle and high school start times:

Option 1:

  • 12 elementary schools operate on Tier 1 (7:20 am - 1:52 pm)
  • All high schools operate on Tier 2 (8:05 am - 2:35 pm)
  • All middle schools and 3 elementary schools operate on Tier 3 (8:45 am - 3:15 pm)
  • 8 elementary schools operate on Tier 4 (9:25 am - 3:55 pm)

Option 2:

  • 8 elementary schools operate on Tier 1 (7:20 am - 1:52 pm)
  • 12 elementary schools operate on Tier 2 (8:05 am - 2:35 pm)
  • All high schools operate on Tier 3 (8:45 am - 3:15 pm)
  • All middle schools and 3 elementary schools operate on Tier 4 (9:25 am - 3:55 pm)

We value your feedback to understand how these options may impact students, families, and staff. Your insights are essential to shaping a schedule that balances student well-being with transportation efficiency.

The surveys will close on Friday, April 4, 2025. Thank you for sharing your input!

School Start/End Time Joint Committee

During the 2023-24 school year the district and Edmonds Education Association formed a joint committee involving staff, students and families to examine our start and end times.

In May of 2024, the district sent out a survey to families about their desire to change the current start and dismissal times. The responses showed that the community is interested in moving high school start times to later in the morning.