York County School Days Will Be Longer Next Year

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, March 01, 2011

York County students will spend more time in school, starting next fall.

The York County School Board unanimously approved a plan to extend the school day by 10 minutes at the elementary level, 12 minutes at middle schools and 18 minutes at high schools. The new schedule will go into effect next September.

The board previously gave approval of the plan to lengthen school days last June, but last night approved the actual schedule for each school. Most schools will have additional minutes at the end of the day, but some middle schools will start earlier.

The School Board agreed to make the change in an effort to bring York County’s school days closer to the average school day in the rest of the state. While York currently meets the minimum amount of hours required by the state (990 hours of instruction), it has a shorter school day than many divisions in Virginia. Now, elementary school students will spend six hours and 36 minutes in class, while middle and high school students will spend about six hours and 45 minutes in class.

The approved schedule is:

• Magruder Elementary: 8:30 a.m.-3:06 p.m.

• Bethel Manor Elementary, Coventry Elementary, Grafton Bethel Elementary, Mt. Vernon Elementary, Tabb Elementary: 8:45 a.m.-3:21 p.m.

• Dare Elementary, Seaford Elementary, Waller Mill Elementary, Yorktown Elementary: 9 a.m.-3:36 p.m.

• Grafton Middle, Queens Lake Middle, Tabb Middle: 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.

• York Middle School: 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.

• All High Schools: 7:20 a.m.-2:05 p.m.