Stillwater school board approves change to school start times, pushes it to 2025

Start times for students in Stillwater schools will be changing thanks to a measure approved by school board members, although they won’t change as soon as first thought.

Tuesday night, the board voted unanimously to approve start time changes for Stillwater Area Public Schools but decided to have those changes take effect in the fall of 2025 rather than this fall as initially proposed.

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, the district’s days will shift to the following:

• Elementary schools: 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
• Middle schools: 8:35 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.
• High school: 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Area Learning Center and Transition: 8:55 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.

Compared to the current schedule, the changes mean elementary school days will start an hour earlier while middle schools will shift 45 minutes later and high schools move back 65 minutes. ALC and Transition will start 75 minutes later.

RELATED: Stillwater School Board members discuss changing start times

District officials say they’ve been discussing the idea for years to determine how to best help students. They say research and medical evidence show that later start times for middle and high school students better align with their sleep schedules and noted that other schools have already made similar changes.

“Our goal is really to try to match their sleep rhythms a little bit better and give them that opportunity to get the rest that they need so they can come in focused and ready to learn,” Carissa Keister, a Stillwater Area Public Schools communications representative, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS back in December.

However, instead of implementing those changes this fall, the district opted to push it back a year to give families more time to get ready for them and determine if any childcare or logistical changes are needed. It’ll also give the district more time to hire more childcare staff, the district says.

Additionally, Stillwater Area Public Schools says students will still have access to the same after-school opportunities they’ve always had, and based on other districts in the conference, the changes will actually better align the district with other high schools. That being said, the district noted that there may be occasions where some student-athletes need to be released early but that already happens occasionally.

For more information on the changes, click here.