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Proposed change to N.L. school start times could save millions, says
minister

   Laura Howells
   | CBC News | Posted: June 8, 2026 7:01 PM | Last Updated: 19
   hours ago

   Minister Barry Petten says money saved could be put back into
   education system

   Image | St. John's school bus

   Caption: Last week NL Schools sent out a survey to families
   asking them about changing the start and end times for 37
   schools in the province. (Curtis Hicks/CBC)
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   Newfoundland and Labrador's transport minister says changing
   school start times would save between $5 million to 6 million
   per year, as the province looks for feedback on the
   newly-proposed schedules.
   Last week NL Schools sent out a survey to families, asking
   about changing the start and end times for dozens of schools in
   the province. Some start times could change by up to an hour,
   starting in September 2027.
   Transportation Minister Barry Petten said the new schedules
   would require fewer buses as it would use a “double run”
   system. Older students would have later start times, he said,
   as studies show benefits for the age range.
   “This is a huge cost savings to government,” said Petten,
   speaking on CBC Radio's The St. John’s Morning Show Monday.
   Each bus costs about $100,000 per year, he said.
   “We’ve got to be able to deliver the same service and not cause
   too much disruption.”
   WATCH | The school day could start and end earlier for
   thousands of families:

   Media Video |

   Caption: Are you ready to start and end the school day an hour
   earlier? That’s the question government is putting to thousands
   of families in a survey, as it considers changing school start
   and end times. The CBC’s Zach Goudie has details.
   Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require
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   pages.
   Petten said Conception Bay South has had success using the
   “double run” system. The money saved could go towards other
   costs in the education system, like school maintenance
   problems, he said.
   “You go in by any school, the congestion on parking lots and
   the number of school buses and they’re not all being
   maximized,” said Petten.
   Petten says he understands the potential inconvenience to
   parents who need child care and is “curious to see what parents
   have to say.”
   “I don’t want to cause too much disruption to families,” said
   Petten.
   But as minister, he said, the government “[owes] it” to “find
   the balance.”
     * Roughly $2.6M spent on Cartwright school before N.L.
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     * 11,000 more students now eligible to ride bus to school as
       N.L. ends distance requirement

   In a statement Friday, NDP Leader Jim Dinn called the proposal
   a “knee-jerk reaction” to a 2023 decision to eliminate the
   regulation that kept children who live within 1.6 kilometres of
   their school from taking the bus.
   Dinn said he and NDP MHA Sheilagh O’Leary have heard from
   families who are worried how they’ll be negatively impacted if
   school start times change in regards to family schedules and
   child care.
   “The abysmal track record of consultation from both the former
   Liberal government and the current Conservatives does not make
   me hopeful about the outcome,” said Dinn.
   “The bottom line is that we cannot make cuts while maintaining
   services – this will fall on the backs of parents, students and
   educators.”
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