Mundelein High officials may tweak bell schedule

Mundelein High School officials will meet next week to discuss changing the bell schedule - but not what time school starts each day.

Mundelein High has been on a block schedule since 1996. Instead of eight 50-minute periods each day, students have four 90-minute sessions.

Classes start at 7:45 a.m. each day and end at 3:20 p.m.

The District 120 board will hold a special meeting Tuesday to review schedule options. That session is set for 6:30 p.m. at the school, 1350 W. Hawley St.

The discussion is not related to starting middle or high school classes later to give students more sleep, Superintendent Kevin Myers said. Instead, it's about potentially reorganizing the school day that already exists.

"We are analyzing different bell schedules and their characteristics to determine if they are a better fit for our students and staff needs," Myers said.

"A late start is not part of the conversation."

Any changes wouldn't be enacted until at least August 2017, he said.

At some other suburban schools the focus has been on later start times, driven by studies that show teenagers who get more sleep do better academically and are involved in fewer car accidents.

Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire will start at 8:30 a.m. in 2016-17, instead of 8:05 a.m.

Northwest Suburban High School District 214 officials will push the start time back at their six high schools and three alternative programs in fall 2017.

Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103, Barrington District 220, Elgin Area District U-46 and Naperville District 203 are among suburban districts that have studied delaying start times.