The Clark County School District (CCSD) will be implementing new school start times for the 2027 school year to improve student health.

The idea was first proposed to parents, teachers and students via a voting survey in which results were announced to school staff and students on Jan. 20, 2026.

“I was shocked that they went forward with [the new start time] because I thought there would be more pushback from the community,” Principal Donna Levy said. “I’ve always embraced this because it’s scientifically what is best for the teenage human.”

High schools will start at 8:30 a.m., middle schools at 7:30 a.m. and elementary schools at 9:15 a.m.

“If you look at the district’s frequently asked questions and its answers, it states that magnet schools will start with their grade level [classes],” Levy said. “We have 14 minutes longer than many of the comprehensives, so we will start at 8:30 am and end at 2:55 pm.”

The district’s finalized start times are intended to pose a benefit to student health, performance and safety, especially for high schoolers.

“Research shows that teenagers need to sleep in more and will perform better with the new start time,” Freshman Studies teacher Kimberly Caipa said. “I also think kids [won’t be] walking to school in the dark. Driving to work in the dark and seeing students crossing the crosswalks is something that has always concerned me.”

The district’s decision to change the school start times though has caused concern with student routine.

“Initially, I did not believe the time change was going to have a major impact on daily routine, but after hearing that it will be an hour and a half later, my views have changed,” junior Hellen Beyene said. “I believe this large of a time change will have a negative impact on student event participation as the school day will end significantly later.”

The shift in school start times poses an opportunity for clubs to meet before school to accommodate members’ schedules.

“It’s going to affect a lot of our students that are in BSU because many of them have jobs,” Black Student Union adviser Tracy Taylor said. “That could be a possibility that we could meet before school, but it’s going to be dependent on their schedules because personally, it’s going to affect me too.”

Students expect next year’s time shift to have a change in their school experiences as well as after-school activities.

“I think it will be [difficult] because I do activities outside of school. Many of them start at around five to six pm,” freshman class president Arianna Alcala said. “Students would be able to get a lot of sleep and work on a normal schedule, but one negative is that it interferes with a lot of people’s schedules and that it will change a lot.”

With the new time change comes difficulty with transportation for students who ride with older siblings.

“Families typically have the high school sibling pick up the middle school and elementary school sibling, so it’s going to affect them a lot because now it’s going to be rough on the parents,” Taylor said. “They’re going to need to have alternate solutions to make transportation happen.”

Despite the shift, it is something that many are looking forward to coming into a new school year.

“For me, I love the change and I actually voted for this when the survey went out,” Student Council co-adviser Brandon LaFountain said. “I come from a different state, and I was working as a teacher from a different state, so it’s mirroring what I already had back then. This just makes sense to me and I can actually get stuff done.”