Pleasant Lake and Sarah Banks start times to change

The school day start and end times for Sarah Banks Middle School and Pleasant Lake Elementary School in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District will be changing in the 2012-2013 school year.

Superintendent Ken Gutman told district parents in a letter that this change is to “align transportation and streamline timing for maximum efficiency.”

Sarah Banks Middle School’s start time will change by eight minutes. Instead of starting at 7:30 a.m., school will begin at 7:22 a.m. Likewise, the dismissal time will change by eight minutes, as well, with school ending at 2:13 p.m. instead of 2:21 p.m.

“By starting 8 minutes earlier, all Sarah Banks buses will have enough time to get to their next runs anywhere in the district, which will greatly improve the efficiency of our fleet and reduce costs,” Gutman wrote.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Lake Elementary School students will see a greater change in start times. Instead of starting at 8:07 a.m., school will begin at 8:57 a.m. The dismissal time will be at 4 p.m. next year instead of 3:10 p.m.

Several reasons were behind this change, including the need to even out the elementary school start schedules because the closing Maple and Twin Beach elementary schools are late-start schools.

According to Gutman, these changes will save the district about $50,000 annually in transportation costs because it requires fewer buses to transport students and provides greater flexibility for more efficient bus routes.