Concern over young children waiting in the dark for a school bus has prompted the Avoyelles School Board to consider starting the school day 30 minutes later. Board President Mike Lacombe said the board has to consider children’s safety.

    The earliest pickup time in the parish is 5:30 a.m. and the latest drop-off at home is 4:45 p.m., Transportation Supervisor Brent Whiddon told the board’s Bus Committee at is May 26 meeting.

     Lacombe said pushing the end of school time 30 minutes later could result in some students getting home after dark at some times of the year, “but I’d rather drop them off in the dark than have them waiting on the road in the dark.”

     Superintendent Blaine Dauzat said Avoyelles Parish starts classes earlier than many school districts. One reason for  the earlier starting times was to accommodate the block schedules at three of the district’s four high schools. Dauzat said moving the starting time up will also mean ending school later. That would require students going to sporting events, literary rallies and other after-school activities to miss part of their final period class on those days.

    Dauzat said that with the block schedules, two semesters of class are compressed into one semester with longer class periods.

    “Missing 30 minutes of a class is like missing a full hour in a 7-period day,” he said.

    Board member Chris Lacour said student athletes and those involved in after-school activities requiring travel all realize they will have to make up work they miss due to their participation in those events.

    Whiddon said that under the previous 7-period day, the 7th period was often a PE class for athletes. On away game days, the athletes would miss part of the PE class time to leave school in time to reach the game. The block scheduling system eliminated that option.

    Board member James Gauthier asked Dauzat to inform all principals and coaches of the committee’s concerns and the possibility of revising the school day start-end times.

    Dauzat said he will get that information out to the schools and request input for the Bus Committee’s June meeting. If the committee makes a recommendation on the issue, it would be presented at the board’s July meeting.

    Dauzat said July would be early enough to make a change, but waiting until August might put schools in a bind to make the change before the school year starts.