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Some students in Clark County Public Schools (CCPS) will be starting the day a little earlier in exchange for an earlier dismissal time.

The CCPS Board of Education approved a new start and dismissal schedule at last Tuesday’s meeting.

The schedule changes will affect the district’s elementary schools, the Area Technology Center (ATC), the Phoenix Academy, Robert D. Campbell Junior High School (RDC) and George Rogers Clark High School (GRC).

The elementary schools will start the day at 7:40 a.m. rather than 7:50 a.m. and dismiss at 2:40 p.m. rather than 2:50 p.m.

GRC and the ATC will start the day at 8:20 a.m. instead of 8:35 a.m. and dismiss at 3:20 p.m. instead of 3:35 p.m.

RDC and the Phoenix Academy will start at 8:30 a.m. rather than 8:50 a.m. and dismiss at 3:30 p.m. rather than 3:50 p.m.

District officials said there are two reasons for the changes.

First, it will close the gap between RDC and Baker Intermediate start and dismissal times, hopefully eliminating parent wait times and students being dropped off too early in the morning.

Second, it will allow GRC/ATC students to leave for afterschool jobs earlier and let activity/athletics buses leave earlier as well.

The Clark County’s Preschool (7 a.m. – 1 p.m.) and Baker’s (7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) schedules will not change, nor will any bus pickup times be affected for all schools.

New project at RDC

An exciting new project was given formal approval by the Board last Tuesday night.

The city of Winchester will soon begin construction on a bioretention basin on RDC’s campus.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website, “Bioretention practices, such as rain gardens, are landscaped depressions that treat on-site stormwater discharge from impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and compacted lawns. They are used to collect stormwater and filter it through a mixture of soil, sand and/or gravel.”

Winchester City Manager Mike Flynn explained that the basin will be constructed near the school’s walking track and that it will “help alleviate some of the flooding problems we experience downstream in that area.”

Flynn said the city hopes that the basin will lower water levels “by five to six inches of flood elevation.”

The project will also have an education component.

“It will be educational from the standpoint that you will be able to take kids down there and show them some science, like the ecosystem, and those types of things,” Flynn said.

The project will cost around $275,000 to $280,000, Flynn said, but 60 percent of the cost will be paid for by a federal grant, with the city picking up the remainder of the tab.

Construction on the project was slated to begin last week.