WEST RIDGE — Decatur Classical Elementary School in West Ridge has announced it is among the 17 elementary schools (and 60 high schools) across the city to adhere to new start and end times for their upcoming school year, officials said Tuesday.
The school will shift its first-period bell from 8:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m., and its end time from 3:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., the school's Local School Council Chairman Tim McCaffrey said.
It was also recently announced neighboring Stone Scholastic Academy would see an earlier start time, moving its start from 8 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
On July 1, Chicago Public Schools officials announced bell times would shift at some schools as part of the $200 million in cuts the school district rolled out. Schools with changing bell times were given final notice of their schedules on Monday, CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said.
Shifting the start time at the 77 schools will save CPS $9.2 million by reducing the number of bus shifts to two, allowing the district to cut 160 buses and 75 aides, Bittner said.
"With a $1.1 billion budget deficit, the bell time shift provides significant savings instead of making cuts to the classroom," she said.
With an enrollment standstill, Decatur — which holds CPS' highest academic rating — suffered a $183,491 blow to its annual budget this year, according to data provided by CPS.
The school's principal, Susan Josephine Kukielka, was not available for comment.
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