SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — Students in Sumter County will experience a change in arrival and dismissal times starting in September.
High school students are asked to arrive to school by 9:45 a.m. each Friday until May 15, beginning on September 13.
To accommodate this change, buses will arrive at bus stops an hour later. The school day will end at the regular time.
For elementary schools, class will dismiss at 11 a.m. and middle schools will dismiss at 11:30 a.m. on September 25 and March 18.
District officials say these changes started last January. They're bringing them back as a way to offer additional time for professional development and instructional planning to Sumter teachers.
The move has received a mixed response from families as some work to figure out how the adjustment will affect their work schedules.
"There [are] so many parents that have different jobs. Some of them have to be to work at 7 a.m.; some of them don't get off 'til 3:30-4:00. You just can't tell your boss, 'Hey, because of school, I got to stay home with my kid and I can come in at this time.' It doesn't work that way," Johnnie Morse, who has two children in Sumter Schools, said.
District officials say provisions will be made for students who need to be dropped off at the regular time, as in prior years. Families should reach out to their student's principal for assistance.