Extra Minutes Added To School Day For 2007-08 School Year
LAS CRUCES, NM – School hours for the 2007-08 school year have been changed to include some extra minutes.
Students in high school and middle school will see the biggest change. They will now go in at 8:55 a.m. and leave at 4:05 p.m. Last year, they started school at 8:40 a.m. and got out at 3:40 p.m.
All elementary students will attend school from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Elementary students in White Sands will go in at 8:15 a.m. and leave at 2:45 p.m. Middle school students will go in at the same time but will leave school at 3:25 p.m.
Las Cruces Public Schools Spokesman Jo Galvan said all after-school activities and bus services will be adjusted to fit the new schedule.
Galvan tells ABC-7 the changes were made to meet new mandates regarding the hours of instruction a child must receive in one day. Last year, LCPS decided not to include “passing periods” into the required time. Gavan said “passing periods” are the times allotted to students between classes so they can go to their locker and get books for their next class.
Adding the extra minutes to the school day meets standards set by law and will also provide additional time for school buses to deliver secondary students on time, said Galvan. “It had become increasingly difficult to get all the students to school on time and still allow them to eat their breakfast at school in the morning before classes begin.”
LCPS currently has a contract with Durham School Services for busing. Galvan said the company buses all elementary students first and then repeats the bus routes to pick up secondary students. “By allowing additional time in between the elementary bus routes and the secondary bus routes, there will a little extra time to get kids to school,” said Galvan.
