Howard County schools are studying a proposal to change school start times, a move that could see elementary school students start school earlier in the day, while middle and high school students have later starting times.

The school system's Start and Dismissal Time Committee plans to work with the public to review four scheduling models that have been proposed to alter start times.

Committee member Frank Eastham, executive director for school improvement and administration, said a work group began the process in 2013 to research start and dismissal changes. The committee was formally established in February 2014 by Superintendent Renee Foose.

Some experts have suggested that later start times have shown positive results in a student's sleep schedule and alertness. Several other school systems, including Anne Arundel public schools, have also studied whether to push back start times for older students.

Changes in start and dismissal times in Howard County were discussed in the late 1990s and again prior to 2013, Eastham said, but nothing moved forward.

A report from the committee notes that Howard elementary schools now start at 8:15 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. However, committee models suggest starting elementary schools between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., and ending the day between 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The suggested times for middle and high schools are between 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., dismissing between 3:15 p.m. and 4 p.m. Howard high school schedules now are from 7:25 a.m. to 2:10 p.m., with middle schools now starting between 7:40 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. and dismissing between 2:25 and 3:10 p.m.

David Ramsay, director of transportation, said the alternative times would increase the number of general and specialized buses — currently 453 — to between 455 and 523. The changes also include projected cost increases that incorporate general and specialized bus fleets, administration and routing software.

“Currently, our morning window is two hours, 7:25 to 9:25 a.m. and in the afternoon, 2:10 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.,” Ramsay said. “If you have more time, either in the morning or the afternoon, to provide services, you can add more trips to the bus routes.”

Approximate costs of changing the school hours will range from $930,000 to $5.3 million, according to the committee findings.

The committee is reviewing the effect on before- and after-school care, availability of secondary students to pick up younger siblings from school, rush-hour traffic and altering the times of after-school activities and athletics, said Eastham.

“It changes the entire culture of the community,” he said. “Changing start and dismissal times for schools impact every citizen in the county; it's not just a school-based decision.

“It really depends on what the community wants,” Eastham said. “The initial feedback that we've received is the concern of elementary being the first to start and high schools being the latest start, with athletics and activities[starting later]. This is one of those issues where not everybody has the same perspective.”

The committee will begin gathering community input with its first forum Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Marriotts Ridge High School. Public forums will also be held Dec. 7 and 14, also from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Howard High School and Reservoir High School, respectively.

Any change to the start and end times would take effect with the 2017-2018 school year.

To review the four schedule models, go to hcpss.org.