Naperville District 203 proposes one-year delay on scheduling changes

Changes to the school day in Naperville Unit District 203 would not take effect until the 2026-2027 school year, administrators said this week.

School board members, who have yet to approve the changes, said they appreciated the one-year delay. However, they continued to question some aspects of the plan that would change start and end times at all levels and lengthen class times at the high school and middle school levels.

When the scheduling changes were first proposed in February, district administrators suggested implementing the new schedule in the fall.

On Monday, school board members said they remain concerned about how the changes would impact family schedules.

“We won’t have unstructured time in the schools,” school board member Amanda McMillen said. “It’s just going to move it to the homes.”

McMillen said the changes could potentially leave middle school students, who would have the latest start time at 8:50 a.m., with unsupervised time at home.

“Those are things I’m really concerned about,” she added. “I want to make sure that if we’re going to delay this out, that we have very intentional parent communication and engagement about what this really means for them.”

In recent meetings, parents have objected to the changes focusing on the gap between the earliest start time, 7:45 a.m. for elementary students, and the 8:50 a.m. start for middle school students. Many parents noted that the change could impact work schedules or force parents to find before-school care for their middle schoolers.

District officials have said the proposed scheduling changes are needed to make the best use of the time students are in school and limit unstructured time such as early arrivals before school, passing periods or wait times after school for buses.

Officials noted some students arrive as much as an hour before classes start due to current bus schedules or are forced to wait after school for their bus. Keeping the same schedule “disproportionately impacts” students who ride a bus to get to school, officials said.

Superintendent Dan Bridges said the proposed start and end times are the result of much consideration.

“I think we’ve run every option that we can,” he said.

He added that adding resources to supervise early arrivals or late departures wouldn’t change the fact that some students arrive to school as much as an hour before classes start.

School board members did not indicate when they would vote on the proposed changes.

The school board’s next meeting is at 7 p.m. on March 24 at Kennedy Junior High School, 2929 Green Trails Drive in Lisle.