KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Killeen ISD families received an email this week asking for their opinions on when different campuses should start and end classes, sparking conversation on social media.
The proposed change, which would take effect next school year, would have high school students starting classes earlier than elementary and middle school campuses. According to the district, the time change would help with transportation and safety issues, allow high school students time for extracurricular activities, and give them the ability to care for younger siblings after school.
The district is still in the early stages of development, with no set start or end times announced for students.
Parent Robert Hubert said the current schedule already puts a strain on his family.
"My kids have to get up at 5:30 in the morning, and then their sister in high school doesn't have to get up till 7 o'clock...It's kind of harsh to make a young child have to get up that early when adults really don't have to get up that early," Hubert said.
Hubert said the staggered schedule also creates challenges during the workday.
"It's kind of hard for me to be in the middle of my day and I got to rush home at 3:20 because the younger ones beat her home by an hour and a half, and they've got nobody to watch them. We've come from other school districts where we didn't have to stagger," Hubert said.
Parent Estefani Hossfeld, who has a child with special needs, said changes to campus zoning this year have made early mornings especially difficult.
"My son wakes up at 5:30 a.m., 5:45 a.m. at the latest, and his bus comes about 6:10, and then there's already children in the bus when he gets picked up. So I know other families are having to wake up their kids even earlier," Hossfeld said. "The way that they zone things is off because there could be a school right on their street and then they send kids further away."
Parent David Barnes said he welcomes some changes but wants more accountability from district administration when it comes to ongoing bus problems.
"I feel like the school district has more to worry about than changing the bus schedules. The superintendent is getting paid all this money, and I'm sure the other folks on the staff getting paid all this money. If you need more bus drivers, take a pay cut, hire more bus drivers to get the kids to school. You're closing all these schools — I don't know, [the survey] just stirred up so much," Barnes said.
KISD is asking families and employees to complete the survey by September 30 as the district continues its feedback stage.
