POASD Votes to Push Back School Start time

PHILIPSBURG, Pa — The Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District is looking at a change for next school year. Tonight, the school board voted for the schools’ start times to get pushed back.

The school district says the need for change comes with the best interest of the students in mind.

Board members say research has shown that later start times for students are better because they are able to get an extra 40 minutes of sleep.

They say they also plan to switch back over to a five-day rotation plan of gym, library, music, computers, and art, which will almost double the time students are receiving now for special subjects.

The school district faced outside pressure from the Clearfield County Career and Technical Center. The district says 1/3 of its secondary students attend the technical school, and since the CCCTC pushed back its start time, if Philipsburg did not, students would miss parts of their classes.

Philipsburg-Osceola Superintendent Dr. Gregg Paladina says most of the feedback the district has received about the change has been positive.

For the 2020-21 school year, secondary students' school day will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 2:35 p.m. Elementary-level students' school day will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 3:35 p.m.

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