Clark County School District (CCSD) has decided to change school start times due to the lack of bus drivers. Due to the current strand of Covid-19, the Omicron variant, the availability of all public school workers has been at an all-time low. As a result, many bus drivers have had to double up on shifts to accommodate the urgent transport need. 

The first shift will affect the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. More than half of the school campuses under CCSD guidelines will have impacted times of less than 30 minutes. However, school times changes are open to interpretation as the next school year progresses. These adjustments have been suggested to help lighten the driver demand by “impacting 65 bus routes.” said Kristen DeSilva with FOX5 News Las Vegas. This news release has stirred up significant controversy among parents who rely on school bus services to transport their children to their classes.

 Laura Friedlander, a Faith Lutheran parent, and private music lesson business owner provided insight into the future predicament.

 “I think that if changing school start times and end times helps alleviate some of the stress of the lack of school bus drivers, it will be a good thing,” said Friedlander.

 Parents who have difficulty transporting their children to school require a dependable bus system. However, due to the system’s unreliability, parents “have teamed together with several other parents in [the] neighborhood” and have taken “turns taking them to and picking them up from school,” said DeSilva.

 The CCSD has openly acknowledged that “every family is going to be impacted,” Nevada PTA President said. Parents usually have their family’s routine planned out. School start time adjustments might impact when they can pick their child up from school and their work schedules.

 Furthermore, most students do not obtain sufficient sleep with the current school start schedule. With the earlier arrival time, children will get less rest, potentially leading to poor performance in academic settings. Faith Lutheran’s Anatomy and Physiology teacher, Mr. Steve Morrill, expressed general statistics that encompass the wellness of children when obtaining better sleep schedules. 

 “There is a lot of data that points to teenagers and young kids doing better mentally from an intellectual, thinking, and functional standpoint with more sleep time in the morning,” said Morrill.

 Mr. Morrill also commented on how he believes the Clark County School District will be affected due to the earlier schedules. 

 “I understand why the CCSD is going this route due to the shortage of bus drivers. However, I also think schools will see even more drop-off of academic performance for those students, especially in early morning classes,” said Morrill.

 Overall, this change will do more harm than good. It might solve a small portion of bus driver shortage issues, but it will cause more conflicts among families and their home and school lives. In addition, many parents are greatly concerned for their children due to their mental health, family bonds, and emotional relationship with school settings being put at severe risk. 

 “If the change helps streamline the fiscal responsibility of the school systems, it will be a positive change,” said Friedlander.

 “Kids have been out of school for two years, and I believe they’ve had stunted growth amongst a variety of ages, said Morrill. “All of this will come to a greater realization when people see the students’ decline in emotional and mental stability and an increase in resulting disciplinary action.”