Change is rarely popular, and the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education’s decision to streamline school start and end times is no exception.

The district’s current schedule was created through “years and years of Band-Aids and patches,” said Transportation Director Tim Beck.

There are currently more than 10 start times across all 35 Rowan-Salisbury Schools, but beginning next school year, that number will be reduced to three.

All six traditional high schools will meet from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., and all middle schools will run from 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Nine of the district’s elementary schools will follow the middle school schedule, and the remaining 11 will run on the high school schedule.

Nontraditional high schools – Henderson Independent High School and Rowan County Early College – will meet from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Parents took to social media to express their concern Tuesday, posting to Facebook and on the Post’s online article concerning the change.

Many are concerned that the new drop off and pick up times will impact their ability to get their children to and from school. Some said the new bell schedules interfere with their work schedules, while those with children in elementary school as well as middle or high school, are concerned that they won’t be able to pick up their children from multiple schools at the same time.

High school parents said their children would miss out on after school jobs or activities because of the later dismissal time. Parents of elementary-age children expressed concern with waking their children up earlier, as well as younger children having to wait at bus stops earlier in the morning.

“We weighed the pros and cons,” said South Rowan Principal Kelly Withers, chair of the Instructional Day Design Committee.

The committee was formed earlier this school year to look at the district’s schedules and find a way to provide more continuity for teachers and students.

“We did a lot of research,” Withers said, adding that the group “felt the academic benefits outweighed” the disadvantages of the new schedule.

“Academics always come first,” she said. “Instruction was our top priority.”

The group was especially interested in starting high schools later in the day, citing research saying that high school students function and learn better later in the day, while elementary school students learn better earlier in the morning.

Withers said the committee pored over articles, case studies and what nearby districts do in their own high schools to make the decision.

Not only will high schools begin later in the day, but all Rowan-Salisbury students will have a school day that’s exactly seven hours long, and all teachers will have an eight-hour required work day.

Students will also have much more consistent start times by grade level. Elementary will be divided into two start times because the district’s current fleet doesn’t have enough buses to get all elementary students school at the same time.

“There’s too many (schools),” Beck said.

He added that they tried to keep elementary schools as close to their current time as possible.

For example, a school that currently starts at 8:25 a.m., would be put in the group that will start at 8:30 a.m. Likewise, a school starting at 7:45 a.m. would be placed in the 7:30 a.m. group.

Withers pointed out that with the new beginning and dismissal times, individual schools might see a shift in their before school or after school programs.

Although middle schools will be starting only 10 minutes later than the district’s earliest school on the current schedule, middle school bus routes are shorter, allowing buses to leave later in the morning.

There’s only a 20-25 minute difference between the old and new schedule, Beck said he believes school bus drivers will be able to trim it down to 30 minutes.

“It will definitely help our inclement weather mornings,” Beck said. “Every minute counts.”

The Rowan-Salisbury’s buses currently leave earlier than any other district in the area. Under the new schedule, Beck said he hopes to be able to have a better picture of what the roads will look like and if incoming storm systems are performing as forecasted.

Although the new schedule isn’t perfect, Beck said it’s “far superior” to the current schedule.

“When we try things, we do honest evaluations of what we’re trying,” Withers said, adding that every piece of the new scheduling puzzle will be “closely watched” to make sure there are instructional benefits from the changes they make.

“It’s never going to be perfect,” Beck said. “It’s never going to suit everybody.”