City councilors are blasting Boston Public Schools’ move to switch school start times next year after backlash from thousands of parents who say earlier times for elementary schools will force them to alter work schedules and pay more for child care.
BPS announced this week new bell times for next year. The shift will have 94 percent of students in grades 7 to 12 starting after 8 a.m., up from 26 percent this year. And the number of students in elementary school who will be ending school after 4 p.m. will decrease from 33 percent this year to 15 percent next year. The times shifted between the secondary and elementary schools.
But the move has sparked the ire of many elementary school parents who argue the shift — which at some schools was as much as two hours — leaves them without after-school care.