Lorain Schools shifts start, end times for 2025-26 school year

LORAIN — Students across Lorain Schools' 14 buildings will spend more time in class next school year under a new bell schedule. The schedule, approved at a special Board of Education meeting in a 4-1 vote, lengthens the school day for students from five to 30 minutes, depending on grade level. Preschool is not included. The change will see Lorain High buses arrive at the school at 7:20 a.m., 10 minutes later than they currently do, and classes start at 7:35 a.m., another 10 minute rollback. High School students would dismiss at 2:30 p.m., 15 minutes later than they currently do. For middle schoolers, buses would arrive 15 minutes earlier, at 8:30 a.m., and instruction would start 15 minutes after that. Dismissal time for middle schoolers will not change. The 10 elementary buildings will see the biggest shift in instructional time. Buses will arrive at 8 a.m. and classes start at 8:15 a.m. — the same time they currently do. The change is in the afternoon, with dismissal time is now at 3 p.m., a half-hour later. Lengthening Lorain Schools' instructional time will bring it more in line with surrounding districts and those in its athletic conference. Prior to the chance, its elementary schools had one of the shortest instructional days in the area, at six hours and 15 minutes. The change also gives its transportation department a half-hour between each school type's dismissal. Lorain offers busing to all grade levels. Board member Courtney Nazario was the sole dissenting vote on the change, a position she has held since it was introduced in February. During the June 25 special meeting, Nazario again voiced her concerns for the change, questioning how much it could cost the district in supplemental contracts for staff to help with dismissal, or what impact it could have on student behavior. Behavior has been at the heart of much of the public discussion around the schedule change, with teachers and parents alike voicing concerns that a longer school day could mean more outbursts or behavior issues from already struggling students. "We know that, historically, data shows behavior gets worse as the day goes on and we're going to add time to the day," Nazario said. She also questioned if the longer school days would mean children with poor attendance would miss more material each day. She asked the district to delay the change for another year to have more "concrete" ideas on what the soft opening and closing plans introduced at a board meeting last month may mean as well. Board President Jay Ferguson said he attended professional development about the proposed soft opening and closing, which allows children "free expression" at the start and end of the school days rather than rigid instruction right when they sit down in the morning or as the day draws to an end. Assistant Superintendent Michael Scott said the change will not impact the length of the day as it relates to staff members' contracted hours, and that there have been conversations with the Lorain Education Association about supplementals for arrival and dismissal supports. The majority of the board approved of the change, citing the increased instructional time it afforded students. Helen Steiner Rice Elementary teacher Lindsay Lauricia pushed back on the change, sharing some of Nazario's concerns. She said none of the teachers she spoke to wanted the schedule change and felt it was rushed. Scott said the survey teachers took about the change was just that, a survey, not a vote up or down on the matter. On Monday, Lorain Education Association President Julie Garcia did not comment directly on the bell change, but said her members had laid out their concerns at prior board meetings. Lorain Administration Association President Tim Jama supported the shift, both as an administrator and as the mastermind behind the district's master schedule. Along with the shift in start and end times, classes will also shift to 50-minute periods at the high school next year -- something that was last in place for the 2012-13 school year, he said. Jama has been with the district for 33 years, and president of the LAA for 18. "I do believe the extra time in the classroom will benefit students," he said. "We're lining up with other districts in the area – I think it's a positive." For the majority of the board, the change was about giving students more time in the classroom. Board President Jay Ferguson said keeping things the same would "give up another year." He wanted Lorain Schools to score higher than the two-star report card it received last year – the lowest in the county. "I just think we need to try something to lift our students as high as they are capable of flying," Board President Jay Ferguson said. "I'm going to put my faith in the people that we hired to make those decisions." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.