Fulton Public Schools students will have a few scheduling changes to adjust to for the upcoming 2012-13 school year.
The biggest change will be the end of early-release Wednesdays in favor of going back to the previous method professional development through teacher in-service days - there are six scheduled for this school year.
In part to make up some of the classroom time lost to in-service days and in part to restore consistency, there also will be an adjustment to scheduled start and end times.
According to a release from the district, school will open on Aug. 15 with an all-day session, with classes running at the scheduled times for the school year: From 7:50 a.m. until 3:05 p.m. at the high school; from 7:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the middle school and from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the elementary schools.
"We chose to change the start and stop times because we wanted more instructional time, and it provides more consistency across the board," Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Hull said. "We're going to be able to put in more intervention time."
The new start times lead to a corresponding change in breakfast serving times: 7:15-7:45 a.m. at the high school, 7:20-7:38 at the middle school and 7:50-8:10 a.m. at the elementary schools.
School meal prices also will be changed this year, with slightly higher prices to help adjust for inflated food costs as well as impeding federal guidelines that will require full-price and free-and-reduced rates to be more equitable.
"Food prices are going up, and most vendors are charging fuel surcharges for deliveries," Food services director Rhonda Fletcher told the school board in April before going on to point out that at the time there was a 33-cent difference between what it cost the district to provide meals and what it was actually charging.