On Sept. 10, the School Committee anticipates voting on start and end times beginning with the 2027-28 school year. But first, members want to give the public a few weeks to provide input.

At Thursday’s School Committee meeting, Superintendent Evan Bishop presented four schedule options, a couple with two bus runs and the other two with three bus runs.

Member Nancy Cavanaugh noted she would rather focus on options that did not increase the operating budget. For example, the two bus run options had projected increases of $351,180 and $176,940 — largely because of the need for four or two additional buses, respectively.

In addition, Bishop pointed out that traffic on Hayden Rowe Street and at the high school/middle school campus would not improve with these options.

With the opening of the Charleswood School in the fall of 2027, grades have been reconfigured, prompting the proposed transportation changes.

One of the three run options has an 7:45 a.m. start time for Hopkins and middle school students, an 8:25 a.m. start time just for the high school and 9:05 a.m. for Marathon and Charleswood.

The respective end times would be 2:15 p.m., 2:55 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

That option has a budget decrease of $104,940 with two fewer buses.

The superintendent noted this scenario would flatten traffic along Hayden Rowe Street, reduce high school/middle school campus traffic, have a later start time for high school students, and allow for the ability to share staff in Grades 5-8.

The downsides, Bishop said, include not having the secondary schools on the same schedule and limiting collaboration for staff in Grades 7-12. There also would be a tight window between start times, and snow or accidents could impact arrival times. Fifth grade staff members would start 70 minutes earlier.

The later start time at the high school also could impact sports, after-school activities and coaches’ schedules, Bishop said. However, some other communities have had comparable start times, including in the Tri-Valley League.

That total cost is estimated at $3.3 million.

The fourth option has 7:45 a.m. start times for the high school and middle school, 8:25 a.m. for Hopkins School (Grades 5-6) and 9 a.m. for Marathon and Charleswood.

The budget impact is a decrease of $245,040 because fewer buses will be required, especially on the second run that would need only 13 buses for those two grades.

On the positive side, Bishop listed the ability to share staff in Grades 7-12, flatten traffic on Hayden Rowe Street and open up a larger window for secondary student sports and time for job and other after-school commitments.

Also, Bishop said the greatest time shift amounts to 30 minutes. But traffic at the high school and middle school would not improve, and having Hopkins with its own shift puts limitations on collaboration time, the superintendent said.

That cost is estimated at $3.1 million.

Committee member Chris Masters noted the most impact occurs with high school students. He said he did not think 10 minutes less of sleep would matter much for the “super high-performing” kids at HHS.

Masters said it made sense to go with what had the fewest drawbacks and saved the most money — the fourth option.

“It seems like an obvious choice,” he said. “Let’s not overthink it,” he said.

Following discussion about possible times to hold office hours or meetings to get additional public comments, committee members decided three weeks would give ample time for residents to express their opinions via email, phone calls or the like.

The presentation will be sent out in a newsletter and be available on the district’s website.

Previously, a survey was sent out and garnered 813 responses that were mixed, according to Bishop. He said respondents were concerned about congestion and traffic, reliable transportation and having age groupings on buses without large gaps. But there was no definitive consensus found in the results, according to the superintendent.

Enrollment statistics presented

In his superintendent’s report, Bishop noted that enrollment in the district as of June 30 was 4,233 students, operating under a 2023 consultant’s projection of 4,377 by that date.

The superintendent noted enrollment has been talked about for many years. “We’ve seen a significant increase over the last decade, but we are starting to see some trends, some possibilities of it leveling off a little bit,” Bishop said. Between 2017 and 2023, there was average growth of 121 students per year.

As of Aug. 20, enrollment totals 4,212, with the largest class being upcoming Grade 8 students with 361. The smallest class is kindergarten with 243, although Bishop said that number would change with expected registrations before September.

The variance between actual enrollment and what was projected for August 2027 by Arthur Wagman is 279 fewer students (although 11 months away).

A request for quotes (RFQ) has been sent out, and projections will be worked on internally as well, the superintendent noted. In four to six months, Bishop expects the data will be available and used while developing the fiscal year 2028 budget.

“I think it is important for us to take a realistic approach to the numbers we’re seeing for enrollment,” Bishop said.

He added the district would use internal projections, numbers from the company brought on and the previous Wagman projections in budget decision-making.

Member Nancy Cavanaugh noted the Wagman projections were “pretty spot-on” in the earlier years but since have shifted a little.

Bishop said it is difficult to make projections 10 years out, and he preferred five-year projections going forward.