Earlier start time for Youngstown high-school students in the fall

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

High-school students will begin classes two hours earlier in the 2019-20 school year in Youngstown City Schools.

It is among many changes to start and end times to the school day that district officials announced Friday.

East and Chaney students will begin classes in the 2019-20 school year at 7:30 a.m. and be dismissed at 2:32 p.m.

For the past two years, the high schools started classes at 9:30 a.m. with dismissal about 4:30 p.m.

This presented a challenge for students involved in sports, extracurricular activities and for those students who work after school. If a sports team had to travel a longer distance to play an away game, for example, it had to leave school early, losing instructional time.

“The change ensures that students get to participate in the sports that are so important to them while they benefit from the same amount of instructional time as other students,” said Sonya Gordon, YCSD’s chief of secondary education.

“Additionally, it will allow our students who are in after-school enrichment and intervention to be home earlier in the day, and it works out better for students who work after school.”

Youngstown Rayen Early College High School students’ class schedules will follow that of the two traditional high schools: 7:30 a.m. start and 2:32 p.m. dismissal. Youngstown Rayen started at 8 a.m. and dismissed at 2:30 p.m. for the 2018-19 school year.

The start and dismissal times also will change for the school district’s nine elementary schools and for Rayen Early College Middle School.

Elementary school classes will begin at 8 a.m. with dismissal at 3:15 p.m. REC will follow the elementary schedule.

That’s a change from the schedule the elementary schools followed for the past two years when classes started at 8:30 a.m. and dismissal was at 3:45 p.m.