Coming changes in school-day schedules are leaving the parents of many of St. Paul's youngest students in need of after-school care, and the city is stepping up to help.
The Parks and Recreation Department has agreed to make its Rec Check program available at 22 recreation centers — two more than in 2018-19 — and it has opened its registration process early.
"We have always been effective partners, but we're even more so now," Andy Rodriguez, a recreation programs supervisor, said of the relationship between city and school district.
Rec Check has proved popular because it is free and a place to which the district will bus children after school. In 2018-19, 866 students were enrolled, compared with 567 the year before, said Clare Cloyd, a parks department spokeswoman.
Numbers are expected to rise again as the district finally puts in place its long-awaited changes in school start times.
Later starts for high school
The chief goal of the move, which has been years in the making, was to push back school starts for secondary students from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Research has shown that high schoolers, in particular, can benefit socially and academically when they get more sleep.
But because the district has a three-tier busing system tailored around 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. start times, officials had to move a group of schools into the 7:30 a.m. slot — and that turned out to be 21 elementary schools that previously began the day at 8:30 a.m.
For those students, an earlier start also means an earlier departure: 2 p.m. for thousands of kids who previously ended their day at 3 p.m.
