Update on School Start Times for 2014-15

The Seattle School Board voted last night to approve amended Transportation Service Standards for next year. The amendment adjusts the bus arrival times for Tier III schools (of which QAE is a part) to 9:15 -- instead of the previously proposed 9:25, which would have put our school start time at 9:40.  The result of this approved amendment is that QAE will likely see only a 5 minute delay in its start and end times for next year (from 9:25 to 9:30 am).  An excerpt of the motion reads:

This motion addresses the disproportionate and inequitable impact of significantly later arrival and departure times on Tier III schools, which already have the latest arrival and start times in the district. It mitigates against this by adjusting all Tier III arrival times to 9:15 a.m., Tier II to 8:25 a.m. and Tier I to 7:35 a.m., as first proposed by staff.

The amended proposal was submitted by QAE's school board director, Sue Peters, who advocated on behalf of our school and our larger community.  Thank you to all who let Director Peters and the school board know how they felt about the new proposal.  Your voices were heard!

The amendment can be found here. 

Please note that the district and board will explore a more dramatic move to the transportation model for the following school year:

This amendment is intended as a one-year solution only, until the district re-evaluates the transportation service standards for the 2015-16 school year, at which time the important goal of reversing high school and elementary bell times can be achieved completely and equitably.