District staff said growth in southern Denton County has led to more construction and traffic congestion, which made it difficult for buses to run on time before and after school. Because of this, a group of principals looked at school start times in the 2016-17 school year.

In May trustees approved a school start time of 7:45 a.m. for elementary students, 8:20 a.m. for high school students and 9 a.m. for middle school students for the 2017-18 school year.

In a discussion item at the March 19 meeting, trustees learned staff recommended the school start times remain the same for 2018-19 based off a committee’s recommendation and survey results.

A committee of 44 people, which included staff and community members, agreed to examine start times for the 2018-19 school year. The committee met three times to discuss the school start times.

Only 14 of the members attended all three meetings.

“I appreciate the work of the committee,” trustee Jenny Proznik said. “I guess I would have just liked a larger representation, if you will, than—I’ll be blunt—14 people for a district of 53,000 students.”

There were two surveys sent out about school start times: one for secondary students and another for parents and employees. The student survey received more than 2,000 responses, and the parent/employee survey received more than 13,000 responses.