INCREASING THE LENGTH OF THE SCHOOL DAY:

The next time thing that's cropped up is the length of the school day.  School used to start at 8:30 and end at 3:30.  But then school buses appeared on the scene and in order to save money, they had to be utilized twice during the day, thus the split schedule between elementary schools and secondary schools.  Makes financial sense if not school day sense.

In Katy ISD the high school day starts at the crack of dawn at 7:15 so that the football team can practice longer in the fall--especially after Daylight Savings Time ends.

When I was on the Board I tried to get them to start school at 7:15 for some and 8:15 for others, but that was too hard for them to figure out how to do. It would have been a way to accommodate the interests of all of the students as well as all of the teachers.

Has anyone else noticed, that these days, most Seniors leave school at noon? So for them, the school day becomes shortened. They've taken the required number of courses by then, and they don't want to sign up for electives, so they find ways to be dismissed at noon.  Not a good use of a free public education, in my opinion!