Shifting start, end times for Pembina Trails schools could disrupt family schedules: parents' group

Some parents in the Pembina Trails School Division are anxious about a plan to change school start times, saying it could affect finances, students' well-being and safety.

"When you're having a change in bell times, a lot of families designed their whole schedules around school, and end times for their children," said Tara Liu, a parent of two children in the south Winnipeg school division.

"This really sets off a bunch of dominoes."

The school division is changing its start and end times at 17 schools starting next September. Pembina Trails first announced the plan in June 2022, and reminded parents of the coming change last month.

Five of the division's schools will start at 8:15 a.m. and dismiss students at 2:45 p.m. Twelve other schools will begin their day at 9:15 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.

The division has said the change is needed to deal with significant growth in its student population and an increase in the number of students who take the bus.

Liu is part of a group called Pembina Trails Parents, which has created an online petition opposing the change.

"We're hearing from many parents that they're going to have to make some tough choices to support their children attending school … either reducing work hours [or] changing jobs so that they can make this work," Liu said in a Monday interview with CBC Manitoba's Information Radio.

"Somebody has to reduce their hours to accommodate this. They're going to have to stretch their family budgets even further."

Shortage of buses, drivers: division

The parents' group also points to research that has suggested earlier start times have a negative effect on students' health and sleep patterns, especially for adolescents. Some other research, though, suggests there's less impact on younger students.

There are also safety concerns about students waiting for buses in the darker early morning hours, Liu said.

The division's superintendent, though, says without the changes, the division would have to add about a dozen more buses to its fleet in the next school year "to adequately provide service to our rapidly growing enrolment." 

"As is currently the case across Manitoba and indeed the country, school bus drivers are in drastically short supply, and an increase to Pembina Trails fleet of this magnitude is not currently possible," Pembina Trail superintendent Lisa Boles said in an emailed statement Friday.

"The planned changes to school start and end times will allow us to grow our capacity by (the equivalent of) 12 buses while maintaining the same size fleet."

Liu said the parents' group acknowledges the bus shortage is an issue, but says there are others beyond that.

"What we need to understand is why are so many people needing the buses," she said. "Is it because there's a lack of schools in this Waverley West neighborhood that is pushing this?"

Parents presented some of their concerns to the division's board of trustees at a meeting last week.

"I think they were receptive and … they stated that they would provide a formal response to us at the next board meeting. So we're looking forward to hearing back from them on that," said Liu.

"We really need to get [to] the heart of everything and find some creative solutions and work with … the provincial government, the school board and all these parents to really find a good solution for everybody.''