Cherry Creek Schools to vote on later start times for most students

AURORA, Colo. – The Cherry Creek School District will consider Monday whether or not to change the start times for students across the district.

Administrators said they surveyed all of the more than 55,000 households district-wide to get feedback on the changes and said more than half of the respondents approve.

If the proposal is approved by the board, beginning next year, elementary school start times would be pushed back from 9 a.m. to 8 a.m.; middle school would be moved later, from 7:50 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. and high school students would start later, with times moved from 7:10 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.

The school board says the plan is backed by science. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pushed for later bell times.

A final vote will happen at 7 p.m. at Arrowhead Elementary in Aurora.