Parents, teachers and students have been giving feedback recently on possible new bell schedules for next year — all of which have a starting time of 8:30. 

A new bell schedule is needed in order to comply with a  state law that mandates all high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 by 2022. Additionally, the district is looking for a way to revise the schedule to ensure that it meets the required 64,800 instructional minutes per year while still keeping tutorial time.

Four potential bell schedules — each with seven periods — have made it to this stage. Periods may be 85 or 90 minutes long, passing may be five or 10 minutes long, tutorial may occur daily or every other day with varying lengths and the school day may end at different times but all before 4 p.m.

District stakeholders are currently giving feedback on the proposed plans, and meetings were held on Feb. 6 at both Saratoga High and Los Gatos High. A bell schedule committee, comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, students, board members and superintendent Mike Grove is set to review this feedback, and ultimately recommend a bell schedule to the school board to be approved in April. This schedule will be publicized in May.

More information about this process can be found on the district website.