Edwardsville School Board Discusses Ridership Audit and Adjusting Start Times

EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 Board of Education learned more about the district’s ridership audit amid conversations about changing the school start times and transitioning to a seven-period day at the high school.

Over the past year, community members have advocated for and against changing the start times to accommodate seven class periods in high school students’ schedules. During their work session on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, Interim Superintendent Dr. Allen Duncan explained the district’s current steps to consider whether this is a possibility.

“We do not plan to change start times or add an additional period to the high school for the 26–27 school year,” Duncan said.

He added, “I think it’s important for the community and the Board to understand that we are still working at this. We are still moving forward, but there are a lot of factors at play. When we make this decision and ultimately when we come to you to make a recommendation, we want to be able to answer all of these questions. If a community member asks you a question, we have an answer. Right now, we’re just still working through some of this.”

Duncan explained that the district is currently conducting a ridership audit to determine how to run the buses most efficiently. The audit will tell the district how many students are being picked up at each bus stop, which will help administrators decide how to adjust the bus routes so each route is as efficient as possible.

Duncan emphasized that financial sustainability is an important piece of this puzzle. He said the district is working with First Student and SIUE to conduct the audit.

They aim to collect six months of data, with the goal of adjusting bus routes in the 2026–2027 school year. The ridership audit will also help the district make their decision regarding start times.

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Additionally, the district must decide whether to operate a two-tier system, which means elementary students ride the bus first and are separated from middle and high school students, or to keep their current three-tier system, which means the start times are staggered and the same bus can pick up more than one group of students over the course of the day.

All of these decisions must also consider ride times, as the district aims to ensure no child is on the bus for longer than 60 minutes. The Board and administrators are also concerned about how a change in start times will impact extracurricular activities for middle and high school students, what challenges teachers might face, and whether the district will have the staff they need for the Kid Zone before and afterschool care program if start and end times shift.

Board President Bob Paty pointed out that, regardless of whether the district decides to change the school start times, they still need to complete the ridership audit to “get the budget in balance” by prioritizing efficiency and financial sustainability in the district’s transportation.

Board member Lynne Sanderson said that SIUE had previously been collecting data to help the district with their audit and asked about this data. District #7 CFO Dave Courtney clarified that SIUE is “engaged again.” He added that he plans to present a mid-year review to the Board next month to help them understand the district’s finances going into the second half of the school year.

“Let’s just say they’re engaged again,” said Courtney. “There is data, but I think there were different parameters given, and those parameters are not the same now…When we do our work session in February, my goal was to kind of do a whole mid-year review and kind of steer what that direction looks like as we’re going into next year.”

Duncan said he understands that “our community is very passionate about this topic,” but it’s important to ensure the district has all of the data it needs before administrators make a recommendation to the Board regarding school start times or schedules. He highlighted the importance of making sure “we have checked every box on how this decision will impact kids across the district.”

“I know there’s going to be people who are frustrated that we’re holding, but we can’t get this one wrong,” he added. “Not that we can get anything wrong, but this one here we have to get right and we have to know that we got it right.”

More information will be shared as it becomes available.

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