Will Beaufort County schools change their start time (again)? Here’s when we might find out. | Island Packet

Update: The district’s calendar indicated the next board meeting would take place July 11 at the time of publication; the board moved the meeting to July 18 at its June 20 meeting.

Parents planning to speak for or against a change in school start times at Tuesday night’s school board meeting should mark a different date on their calendars.

It appeared the Beaufort County Board of Education would consider the issue at its June 20 meeting, as indicated by a May 31 email from board chairwoman Patricia Felton-Montgomery.

But the committee overseeing the issue will not meet until June 27, meaning the full board won’t consider the topic until its July 18 meeting, Student Services committee chairwoman Evva Anderson said Monday.

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The majority of board members favor keeping the secondary schools’ start time at 8:45 and moving the start time for the elementary schools’ to be slightly later than 7:45 a.m.

How to implement that change for next school year will come in the form of a recommendation from Superintendent Jeff Moss and his staff at the Student Services committee meeting, which is scheduled for June 27.

Recommendations coming out of that committee are then voted on by the full board at the next board meeting, which is slated for July 18.

The topic does not appear on a draft of Tuesday night’s agenda. However, the public can still comment on the issue of school start times during Tuesday night’s meeting, but the board itself will not vote on the issue then.