Board members of Hempfield Area School District voted unanimously — although reluctantly in some cases — to shift the start and end times for school next year.
“I think this is the better option. But I still feel bad,” school board member Diane Ciabattoni said.
The start and end of the school day in 2025-26 will break down as follows:
• High school will start 10 minutes later, at 7:30 a.m., with dismissal 15 minutes earlier at 2:30 p.m.
• Middle school will start an hour earlier, at 7:30 a.m., with dismissal 50 minutes earlier at 2:30 p.m.
• Elementary school will start a half-hour earlier, at 8:30 a.m., with dismissal 20 minutes earlier at 3:20 p.m.
“There’s no question the middle school students are impacted the most,” Superintendent Mark Holtzman said. “But we have little children who aren’t getting home until after 5 p.m., and that’s just not acceptable. Our goal is to have two transportation runs instead of three.”
Holtzman and school board members said a shortage of bus drivers — an issue that is not restricted to Hempfield — contributed heavily to the decision.
“That’s driving a lot of this,” board member Paul Ward said. “I see a lot of school buses parked with advertising for drivers. We can’t ignore that this shortage is happening all over.”
Parent Karie McCafferty said the new start time, along with a bus ride that lasts nearly an hour, means her son will have to wake up at 5:45 a.m. next year to get ready for school.
“These are little kids, not adults,” McCafferty said. “Please consider how this will affect our kids.”
Board member Jennifer Stape said she will have four elementary-age students in the district next year.
“Your concerns are not falling on deaf ears,” Stape said. “But we want to try and look at all the things that are part of students’ lives.”
District parents have raised concerns about disrupting routines and extracurricular events, and Holtzman said the feedback he’s seen has been both positive and negative.
“We’re trying to make decisions in the best interest of the greater good,” he said. “We have the buses. But we don’t have the drivers.”