Denver Public Schools Announce New Start Times For 2021-22 School Year

Denver Public Schools (DPS) has announced they are changing the start times for the Fall 2021 calendar, reports FOX31.

The new bell times for most schools in the district will be:

7:30 A.M. - 7:40 A.M.

8:05 A.M. - 8:25 A.M.

8:50 A.M. - 9:10 A.M.

According to DPS the changes were needed to adapt to the dwindling number of school bus drivers.

"Beginning in the 2021-22 school year, DPS will begin using a three-tier system for bell times, meaning most schools will start their day during one of three windows: 7:30-7:40 a.m., 8:05-8:25 a.m. or 8:50-9:10 a.m. With this change, most schools will be implementing new start and end times," the district explained in their full statement.

"In the past, DPS schools had multiple start and end times across the district. This made it difficult to maximize our transportation services to students and forced difficult conversations around permanent service cuts. The new tiered bell time system will also allow us to fully re-introduce transportation amidst a national CDL driver shortage.”

The changes will go into effect at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

DPS is also considering a delayed start to the upcoming school year, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of air conditioning throughout the schools as the reasons.

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