Some schools within the Durham District School Board will have new start and end times next year, as the board seeks to save money on student transportation by staggering the timing of opening bells.

On Monday night the board voted in favour of changing the start times at 28 schools. A total of 18 schools will see their start time changed by 10 minutes or less while six schools will see their start time changed by 15 to 25 minutes and four schools will see their start times changed by 30 to 45 minutes.

According to board officials, the move will generate about $1.9 million dollars in annual savings by allowing 48 school buses to be taken off the road. Those 48 buses can be taken off the road because most other buses will now be able to complete two routes instead of just one, board officials say. Board officials also contend that the changes will also translate into an additional 1,600 students being eligible to take a school bus.

Of course, not everyone is happy.

At Eagle Ridge Public School in Ajax, where the start time will change from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., several parents told CP24 on Tuesday that they will have to incur additional childcare costs as a result of the late start time.

“Thirty minutes in itself is not a big deal but over the course of a year it will have a huge impact on not only my kids but lots of other kids as well,” parent Andy Lubczynski said. “I have heard first hand from parents at this school who will have to fork out upwards of $10,000 in additional childcare costs because they are going to be forced now to find before school care. That is a huge concern.”

DDSB Chair Michael Barrett has said that there are “winners and losers” with the changes. He said that parents seem to be “equally divided.”

Here is a full list of the schools affected:

Ajax

  • Carruthers Creek PS - 10 minutes later
  • J Clarke Richardson CI - 10 minutes earlier (at end of day only)
  • Ajax HS - 10 minutes later, shorten lunch by 5 minutes
  • Pickering HS - 15 minutes earlier
  • Eagle Ridge PS - 30 minutes later

Whitby

  • Julie Payette PS - 5 minutes earlier
  • Meadowcrest PS - 10 minutes later
  • Pringle Creek PS - 10 minutes later
  • John Dryden PS - 20 minutes later
  • Sinclair SS - 25 minutes later
  • Donald A Wilson SS - 30 minutes earlier

Oshawa

  • Coronation PS - 10 minutes later
  • Eastdale CVI - 10 minutes later
  • O’Neill CVI - 10 minutes earlier
  • Sunset Heights PS - 10 minutes earlier
  • Walter E Harris PS - 10 minutes earlier

Pickering

  • Altona PS - 10 minutes earlier
  • Gandasetiagon PS - 10 minutes later
  • Bayview Heights PS - 25 minutes later
  • Pine Ridge SS - 20 minutes earlier

Scugog

  • RH Cornish PS - 10 minutes later
  • Porty Perry HS - 5 minutes later
  • Greenbank PS - 20 minutes earlier
  • SA Cawker PS - 45 minutes later

Uxbridge

  • Quaker Village PS - 10 minutes later
  • Scott Central PS - 5 minutes earlier
  • Uxbridge PS - 5 minutes later
  • Joseph Gould PS - 40 minutes later