Dalton school board sets school hours

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·3 min read

Mar. 13—The Dalton Board of Education unanimously set school hours for the 2024-2025 school year at its latest meeting.

Under the plan adopted by the board, the first bell for Dalton High School and The Dalton Academy will ring at 7:30 a.m. and school will end at 2:15 p.m.; Dalton Junior High School and Hammond Creek Middle School will start at 8:05 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.; and the elementary schools will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:25 p.m.

Chief of Student Services and Activities Steven Craft said secondary school principals had asked the administration to add instructional time to the school day. He said the new schedules will add 20 minutes of instructional time to the school day at Dalton High School and The Dalton Academy.

Craft said officials are looking at ways to open the doors to schools earlier to help parents who have to work drop off their children.

Board member Tulley Johnson thanked him for that.

"We do need to take into consideration the time our parents go into work," he said.

Board member Sam Sanders asked if schools typically open for students before start time. Craft said they do.

"But that's not a uniform time?" Sanders asked.

"That's correct," said Craft.

"Should we consider a uniform time?" Sanders said.

"That's part of the discussions we have already been having," Craft said. "While we understand we are one community, each of those schools serve different people in the community. But we are looking at having a standard time for this."

Craft said he did not see the hours changing in the next few years.

"We do not see that changing unless we move to two tiers," he said.

The school system currently has three-tier bus service, meaning that buses run at separate times for the high schools, the middle schools and elementary schools.

Board Chairman Matt Evans said moving to a two-tier system "would require a lot more drivers and a lot more buses."

"We would love to get there," said Craft. "But right now, even if we had the buses, we could not find the drivers. But we are going to be exploring our options to create more drivers in-house."

The board members also unanimously agreed to accept a $3.264 million guaranteed maximum price (GMP) from contractor Reeves and Young for a new heating and air conditioning system at Roan School.

Chief Financial Officer Theresa Perry said there will be two more GMPs. The second will be for electrical work and the third for "finishes and other items."

In a separate vote, the board members unanimously agreed to allocate $10 million in Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) funds for the Roan School improvements. An ESPLOST is a 1% sales tax on most goods sold in the county that the school system can use for capital projects.

Perry said the school system received $640,000 in property tax revenue in February and $779,000 in ESPLOST revenue. She said ESPLOST revenue was about 13% above the forecast. She projected the school system will end its fiscal year on June 30 with a $21 million fund balance.