Photo by Joselyn King Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller speaks during a recent board meeting in this file photo.

Officials with Ohio County Schools are researching whether it’s worth the effort to start the day at Wheeling Park High School 30 minutes later.

They discussed the issue at length during a recent work session.

Superintendent Kim Miller said technology coordinator Patrick Riddle and innovation coordinator JoJo Shay have been contacting other school districts in West Virginia and surrounding states who changed their start time, asking how this has impact extra-curricular activities and teacher time together.

First period currently starts at 7:25 a.m. each school day at WPHS. Officials had been considering a 7:55 start.

“All this work and time… and is it really worth 30 minutes,” she said. “We’re still collecting data and talking to people. But we’re moving.”

Board members Molly Aderholt asked why the considered change was only 30 minutes later. She suggested 45 minutes to an hour.

Board member Sarah Koegler, meanwhile, asked about the goal of the time change — whether it was about shaving off 30 minutes each day by starting earlier or ending the day 30 minutes later.

“If we had a rule that no kid gets on a bus until 7 a.m., what would that do?” Koegler asked.

First buses leave the lot at 5:15 a.m. to reach the outer areas of the county, according to Brian Harto, director of maintenance and transportation for Ohio County Schools. He said the goal is for the first buses to arrive at the high school by 7 a.m. The buses then leave to go pick up middle school and elementary school students, who ride together.

He said adding buses and drivers likely would be necessary if a later start time were enacted for the high school.

“Our fleet is already a small size fleet,” Miller said. “We would have to put our little people on the bus with big people. And again, is it worth the 30 minutes?”

Board president Zach Abraham wondered if the change in start time would affect daycare and after care services in the county.

He suggested school district officials reach out to school districts not just in West Virginia and contiguous states, but elsewhere in the nation to find what they are doing with regard to high school start times.

“There are some pretty progressive school districts out there that are a lot larger than ours than have been able to figure it out,” he said.

The goal of Ohio County Schools should be to do whatever needs to be done to improve overall student success, he said.

“That should be our alternate lens, and I know it is,” Abraham said. “I like extra-curricular activities, but that is not what is going to carry these kids through life. It’s a portion of their life, and how they grow. I’m not as concerned about that. I like sports, but at the end of the day that’s a minor thing.”

The school board is set to meet at 6 p.m. today.