Cartersville Rolls Out New School Start, End Times (ICYMI)

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Starting in the 2018-19 school year, the Cartersville City School System will observe new transportation procedures that will force the district to alter the start and end times of the school day and alter bus ridership based on the distance a student lives from any given campus.

Superintendent Dr. Howard Hinesley worked closely with other school system officials to extensively review the current processes and to create the most beneficial procedures.

“During the past two years, we have had a significant increase in the number of bus riders," he added. "In order to continue to serve our students’ transportation needs without needing to impose a financial impact to the local taxpayer, we had to make improvements to our current system. We considered many aspects including the impact of school times on students’ learning and development, state law, transportation costs,
the future growth of our community and the resulting rise in the number of bus riders.”

Cartersville City School System will observe the opening and closing times at the start of the 2018-19 school year:

Pre-K

• Start: 7:30 a.m.
• End: 2 p.m.
• Open to receive students: 7 a.m.

Cartersville Primary School

• Start: 7:30 a.m.
• End: 2:20 p.m.
• Open to receive students: 7 a.m.

Cartersville Elementary School

• Start: 7:30 a.m.
• End: 2:30 p.m.
• Open to receive students: 7 a.m.

Cartersville Middle School

• Start: 8:30 a.m.
• End: 3:30 p.m.
• Open to receive students: 7:55 a.m.

Cartersville High School

• Start: 8:30 a.m.
• End: 3:45 p.m.
• Open to receive students: 7:55 a.m.

The state provides only minimal funding for transportation of students living further than one and one-half miles from school. Cartersville City School System provides bus services within a much smaller parameter. Transportation will be provided for all Pre-K, primary and elementary students living further than a half-mile from the school.

Also, bus transportation will be provided for all middle and high school students who live further than 1 mile from the school or who live on the opposite side of U.S. 41/Joe Frank Harris Parkway from the high school. Special needs students who require transportation will not be affected by the changes.

The After School Program will continue to operate from 2:20 p.m. until 6 p.m. Prior to the recommendation to stagger school times to the Cartersville City School Board, the system discussed the proposal with each school governance council who supported the changes.

“Initially, we planned to begin the middle and high schools earlier with the younger students school day starting later," the superintendent added. "However, upon hearing concerns from working parents regarding the impact of later bus loading for primary and elementary students, we altered the decision.”

Hinesley also added the new changes will bring improvements for students and the community.

“The changes offer benefits to our students as there is compelling evidence that suggests middle and high school students perform better when school starts later," he said. "Another benefit is the primary and elementary schools will have more instructional time. Finally, the changes will allow for greater financial efficiency.”

For more information, please visit the Cartersville City Schools website.

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