After parents protested, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will not change the bell schedules at three CMS schools next year.
That means students at Sedgefield Middle School, Mint Hill Middle School and the South Academy of International Languages, or SAIL will remain on their current schedules.
“Our conversations with families reinforced the need to address transportation challenges across the entire district,” said Acting Superintendent Melissa Balknight in a message to families. “We recognize that meaningful improvements require a coordinated approach across the system.”
Parents at SAIL had railed against a proposal to push their school schedule back an hour to 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. They said it would force students to sit on buses for hours travelling across the county at the height of rush hour.
SAIL is a magnet program that serves students from all across Mecklenburg.
The district had proposed the change to accommodate future school transportation routes, particularly as the district implements magnet program changes next year and faces severe bus driver shortages.
CMS says it will send a districtwide transportation survey to all families to find other solutions.
A plan to move Nations Ford Elementary School’s start time to 8 a.m. will still move forward.
