Jenks School District Considering Several Options For New Start Times

School start times are changing in Jenks for the next school year; this district says it’s looking at five different options.

Rob Loeber with Jenks Public Schools said the new three-tiered system will help the district save money.

With the way start times operate currently, they need to buy more buses and hire more drivers - something that could cost around a million dollars.

"If we move to a three-tier system, bus routes and start times, we can accomplish everything we need to accomplish with the current number of buses and current number of drivers, which is a huge savings to the district," Loeber said.

But it's more than just money; Loeber said it's for the benefit of the students' health, too.

"Adolescents and teens benefit from a later start time. Getting more sleep at that age is great for their development, for their safety, for a number of reasons," he said.

Here are the five options the district has released to parents:

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"These are the five options that we've laid out but no decisions have been made regarding where we're going to slot elementary, intermediate, middle school and high school," Loeber said.

Jenks parent Casie Cahalen has two kids in elementary, and one in intermediate.

"We have a lot of lag time in between our drops offs, so I was kind of actually excited with them changing it, but I know everyone's going to have different opinions," she said.

However, Cahalen said she understands why the change in schedule could be stressful for working parents.

“I know I think about working moms and I feel like they will probably have a harder time," she said.

The proposal will go to the school board to be voted on in May.