Kirsten Matthews

February 28, 2020

Students at Carbondale Community High School experienced a time change this 2019-2020 school year. School initially started at 8:30am. However, this year, administrators decided to push the start time to five minutes earlier because they felt the morning announcement were cutting into valuable class time. What is the problem with this you may ask?  

Students who were around for the 8:30am start time have had problems adjusting to the earlier start. Although it may just be five less minutes, to a teenager every minute counts. Tavion Walker, a senior here at CCHS said, “I have had a lot of trouble getting to school on time this year because of the earlier start. At times I forget we even start at 8:25am because I am so used to class starting at 8:30am. However, I am usually late not because I’m not here at 8:25am, but because I’m not here at 8:23am”. 

Yes, you read that correctly. The bells at CCHS run on their own time. Student start and are released from each class two minutes earlier due to the bells schedule being off. Administrators have been informed of this issue but have made no effort to change them. They simply have told student “if you know that, adjust”. However, because of this time difference many students are marked tardy for being “late” when technically they aren’t. This has caused a lot of traffic in the hallways even after the bell has rang because students are still trying to make their way to class. Due to this traffic, the school has started implementing more tardy lock downs to encourage students to move a little faster during passing periods. 

Whether you’re an early bird who catches the worm, or a night owl who is always late, the problem with the bell system is a big one. It has greatly impacted the student body and their timeliness. Hopefully, in due time the bells will be fixed and the school will be in sync again.