In the Prior Lake-Savage school district, a plan to change bus schedules means most students are likely to start class -- and get home from school -- at different times next year.

But deciding which schools will start first or end last has proved controversial, with complaints from parents prompting district leaders to send their original plans back to the drawing board.

The district will hold a public meeting Monday night to gather feedback on two proposed bus schedules, one of which was drafted after many families of parochial and middle school students said the first plan would send their kids to school too early. The newer plan would allow middle and high school students to sleep later than they do this year, but it would start most elementary schools at 7:50 a.m.

The school board is slated to pick one of the bus schedules on April 13. But whatever happens, one thing is clear: "There isn't a real simple solution that's going to make all parents happy," said Renee Remde, who has three children in the district.

District leaders say they're changing bus schedules because they have to move school attendance boundaries to make way for a new elementary school, Redtail Ridge, which is opening this fall. If the district were to stick as closely as possible to the current bus schedule, it would have to pay for three more buses next year, and high school classes -- which now start at 7:15 a.m. -- would have to begin 10 minutes earlier.

So district leaders are looking at bigger changes, and taking advantage of the chance to delay the first bell at Prior Lake High School. Since 1994, the Minnesota Medical Association has urged high schools to heed research showing that teenagers naturally get tired later at night and wake up later in the morning. Since then, some metro-area schools have pushed back start times in the hope that their students will be more alert and ready to learn.

A district survey showed that two-thirds of parents, students and staff liked the idea of starting high school classes later. The district's bus proposals would start the high school at either 8:05 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. next year.

But changes at the high school affect other students, because the district's fleet of buses runs multiple routes each day. Some families are worried about sending young children to bus stops before dawn or having them come home when their parents are still at work. Others want school to end early, so older students have more time in the afternoon for sports or part-time jobs.

The district's first proposal, for example, would start parochial and middle schools around 7:30 a.m. -- a plan that drew criticism from many parents. The second proposal would have those children start at 9:20 a.m., but would mean starting elementary schools earlier and keeping the middle schoolers in class until 4:15 p.m.

"It's a tradeoff," said district spokeswoman Kristi Mussman. "Nobody wants to go first, and nobody wants to go last."

Sarah Lemagie • 952-882-9016