Message from McDaniel: Possible Shift in School Start Times
OKCPS Families, Students and Staff -
I want to provide you with a quick update on our discussions related to a possible shift in district school start times. Many of you will remember that I first mentioned this subject as something our leadership was looking into when I presented at the Board of Education’s January 13 Business Meeting.
OKCPS is currently exploring a change to our school start times. This topic was identified by the Trailblazers, a team of experienced educators who came together during our P2G planning, as something we should look into. Research clearly shows that there are optimal times of day to start school for kids of different ages.
With so many pending changes for our families as a result of P2G, we chose to delay discussions of new school start times last Spring, as we felt it might be too overwhelming for our families. However, now that P2G is moving forward, we’ve brought the idea back to the table for consideration.
Although the research is strong, we want to be sure this would be a fit for OKCPS. My teams are currently gathering input from a variety of stakeholders and having conversations about timing and logistics for such a shift. If we do move forward with this change, I will make my recommendation to the Board of Education no later than March 2020.
Thank you in advance for your patience as we continue to evaluate this shift. I will continue to provide you with additional updates as needed.
Dr. Sean McDaniel
Superintendent of Schools
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The presentation provided to the Board of Education during their work session on Monday, January 27, 2020 can be viewed here. Please remember that this presentation was for discussion only. No decisions have been made at this time regarding school start times or when this change may actually be implemented.