[normac2]

Seems like this could create a group of kids who were formerly driven to school and live out of schoolbus range, but their parents go to work too early to be able to drive them now.

I wonder if there are provisions for this in the new plan (e.g., the school opens early for kids to just hang around if they still need to be dropped off early).

[bobthepanda]

It is really unfortunate that we have created a society and physical landscape where children cannot get to school on their own.

In 1969, 48% of children walked or biked to school. In 2009 that figure is 13%. http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/the_decline_of_...

Even if you happen to live close enough to a school and the walking environment is safe, it‘s not unheard of for Child Protective Services to be called on parents for letting their children be autonomous.

And with the decline in routine physical activity we are now generally less healthy.

[ryandrake]

We need penalties for these nosy people who call Child Protective Services when there is clearly no danger to the child. In some states, you can get in serious trouble (jail time) for abusing E-911 service, why can't people get in trouble for falsely reporting a child who they know is not in danger? The trick is how do you define "clearly"? I'd at least expect a caller to be able to articulate a specific danger they observed the child was in (someone following them or the child was not dressed for the weather, and so on). Not just "he's alone therefore help".

[Mountain_Skies]

I don't know about California but I know in the state I grew up in, there was a legal requirement for the school to send a bus to pick you up if you lived in the school district and were further than walking distance from the school. Several times our bus ended up with a new home added to the route midyear, which required some tricky maneuvering on dirt roads and created a longer ride for anyone whose stop came after those new spots.

[sigstoat]

every school i attended was open well in advance of the start of classes so as to serve breakfast to kids who ate it there.

at the elementary school level there were even some enrichment programs beforehand.

even if some kids still have to wake up early, they can benefit from not having to have to take tests until a bit later in the morning.

[Gibbon1]

I remember high school back in the 1970's. Classes started at 8:30 and had 6 periods. But the last one was all optional classes. It's deranged they didn't flip that.

Feels like start times have gotten worse. Especially due to paranoia about letting kids walk around by themselves. Busing and low density suburbs. And school closures. Probably also administrators impulse to inflict control on students and teachers.