Naperville School District 203’s board of education and administrators continue to hash over the logistical aspects of a proposed school day schedule change that has been under the microscope for the past several months.
While board members, parents, students, teachers, and other faculty continue to raise questions and concerns about some aspects of the administrators’ proposed changes, there is one degree of certainty at this point — all current school start and end times will remain in place for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
Naperville 203 superintendent acknowledges challenges
The current timeline for changing up the school day schedule is at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. Earlier this month, administrators proposed the one-year delay in the hopes of gathering more feedback and giving parents additional time to make adjustments.
Speaking to the issue at Naperville 203’s board of education meeting on Monday, March 24, Superintendent Dan Bridges said he and other members of his administrative cabinet are planning to formalize opportunities for additional staff and community engagement around this issue.
“Obviously, we continue to experience some challenges regarding this,” Bridges said. “We know that there are collective bargaining implications that we need to address with each of our groups. The change to the schedule, obviously as we have heard during public comment and in other messages, obviously is of concern to a number of stakeholders.”
While the board has taken no official action at this point, administrators’ proposed schedule changes for potential implementation in the 2026-27 school year remain as follows:
- Elementary—7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
- Middle school—8:50 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
- High school—8:20 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.
- Connections—8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Bus transportation a part of the equation
Since rolling out the proposed schedule change in January, Bridges and other administrators said there have been a number of drivers behind the school schedule change-up. From a curricular standpoint, officials have cited a desire to have a more nimble schedule to meet students’ diverse needs and provide classroom opportunities that reflect modern-day realities.
But bus transportation — and its impact on Naperville 203’s overall operating budget — also plays hand-in-glove into the school day schedule.
Bridges said the staggered start times in the proposal, with elementary being first out of the gate, is reflective of the current resources in play. If school start and end times were closer together, he indicated additional resources would be required.
Sixty additional full-size buses, in addition to numerous specialized buses, would have to be procured to have routes across different schools that are close to one another, Bridges indicated in his most recent discussion with the board — an expenditure with an estimated $12.5 million price tag.
Other considerations would include staffing for additional bus drivers and mechanics and a determination of where the added fleet of vehicles would be parked.
Dollars and cents aside, Bridges and other administrators have indicated the current schedule is in need of refinement, pointing out some students arrive at school up to an hour before classes begin for the day.
“Regardless of what we do with the innovative school experience, we still have some issues that have to be resolved about early pickup time, compared to school start time,” Bridges said.
Timeline for final decision on school day changes uncertain
There are several other considerations that still remain under review amid the broader start and end time discussion, including potential childcare options before and after the school day begins. The impact of schedule changes on after-school sports and extra-curricular activities also remains under review.
When asked by a board member about the desired timeline for a decision, Bridges, in response, said, “We believe the decision has to be made sooner, rather than later. We want to make sure that we have a professional learning plan, with fidelity in place.”
Board members have, and continue to, pepper the administrators with questions about the proposal, as was evidenced by the discussion at the most recent March 24 meeting.
“I think we have come a very long way since the first presentation,” board member Donna Wandke said. During the discussion, she later stated, “I’m going to challenge us to continue to get feedback from our staff and from our community so that we can continue to bridge that gap because it’s not quite all the way there.”
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