Starting with the 2022-23 school year, Steuart Weller Elementary has endured a 7:30 am start time. The start time should be pushed back to 8:00 am -- along with other elementary schools who have been burdened with the earliest bell schedule for FOUR years!!

The LCPS school board and its transportation division (Chief Operations Officer Kevin Lewis & Director of Transportation Scott Davies) have determined that due to logistical challenges, staggered start times are required for schools. In prior years, no start time was earlier than 7:50 am. However, starting with the 2022-23 school year, some elementary schools were assigned to begin school at 7:30 am.

While some elementary schools have moved to a later time, Steuart Weller has been indefinitely burdened with the earliest bell schedule. This has been fundamentally unfair to the families who continue to be impacted year after year.

In the 2025-26 school year, approximately 35% of LCPS elementary schools start at 7:30 am, 15% start at 7:45 am, and 50% start at 8:00 am. The topic of the bell schedule has come up repeatedly at school board meetings and individual families have reached out to Loudoun County School Board Members. Their concerns have been dismissed and excused with reluctance to finding solutions that are fair, equal, and beneficial to everyone.

The greatest impact of having such an early bell schedule is that it is detrimental to the family. Requiring children to wake up early requires an earlier bedtime, and young children require anywhere from 9-12 hours of sleep. Additionally, many younger children need extra time in the morning to get ready. Early elementary kids may need extra help getting dressed, eating breakfast, packing lunches, etc. which necessitates going to sleep even earlier. By the time parents are finished working, younger children have extremely limited time together at home before bedtime.

For children with older siblings, some may need to stay up late, or some parents may be forced to miss their older child's co-curricular activities in order to ensure their younger child has adequate sleep. This causes a undue burden on the family.

Many elementary school children also have younger siblings. Families with kids attending daycare and an elementary school with a 7:30 am start time make it difficult for the schedules to be well-synchronized, which causes a number of issues that fall on the parents and children.

A 7:30 am start time means the school day ends at 2:15 pm, which requires longer after-school care for working parents. This becomes expensive and even unaffordable, especially for families with multiple children in elementary school. With an early start and longer after-care, some children are away from home for 10-12 hours of the day. This is tragic and damaging to the family.

This early bell schedule has repercussions with children’s learning. Some classes begin the day with important subjects like math or reading. Children are still waking up and their brain may not yet be fully engaged, or they may be tired due to not being asleep by the early bedtime for the reasons stated above. Other students are perpetually tardy to school because the early bell schedule is too difficult for their family, particularly those with special needs. The early schedule and its impact on learning could potentially be causing lower test scores. This puts the children with the earliest bell schedule at a disadvantage.  

The early bell schedule also has repercussions on after-school activities, like sports and music. Many activities during the year are in the evenings, and having a 6:00-7:00 pm practice often causes late bedtimes, which then causes tiredness the next day at school. Additionally, having practices and games in the evenings also puts kids with an earlier start time at a disadvantage, as they are simply more tired than those who are waking up later. 

The schedule continues to impact the family on school holidays and weekends. Children wake up early and become accustomed to eating lunch early (i.e. the first lunch begins at 10:00 am). While a meal schedule seems rather insignificant, it’s another hurdle for families to manage, and another element that requires children to continually adjust at an age when routine is crucial.

The 7:30 am start time also has a negative impact on teachers and staff. Elementary teachers and administrative staff are required to be at school by 7:00 am. For those who have young children, daycare options are limited. Is this what’s best for these young teachers, administrators, and their families?

With the earliest bell schedule, buses are picking up children starting around 6:30-6:45 a.m. This poses serious safety concerns, particularly in the winter months when it is still dark outside. Some families opt to drive their young children to school because the bus pick-up is too early for their child or because they fear their child’s safety. Ironic, considering the foundational reason for such an early start was to provide bus transportation.

What is the LCPS school board doing to alleviate the burden imposed on a subset of families? 

• At minimum, LCPS should rotate the early bell order to share the burden across LCPS. Steuart Weller families should have a minimum of a 4-year break from the 7:30 am start time.
• Demand that the transportation committee revisit and review alternatives to avoid any school having a 7:30 am bell schedule.
• Consider restructuring the order for all school starting times. Fairfax County follows the order of middle, then elementary, and finally high school. Fairfax County Elementary Schools start around 9:00 a.m. and dismiss around 3:30 pm.

LCPS promotes equity as a foundational core value. However, equity should not be limited to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or other cultural identities. By burdening the same group of families, LCPS is failing their children and teaching them that equity is not important across all areas. We deserve better.

We implore you to listen to the families at Steuart Weller Elementary. WE are directly impacted by YOUR choices. Share the burden and find an equitable solution for all families. Give our families a four-year break from the earliest bell schedule!