JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After an 18-year-old student at Ed White Military Academy of Leadership was hit and killed Tuesday morning on Jacksonville's Westside, a Duval County School Board member renewed his push for a later high school start time.
School board member Scott Shine told News4Jax on Tuesday that he's been calling for the standard high school start time to be moved back later than 7:15 a.m. for years.
He said the later start time would keep students from walking in the dark and decrease their chances of getting hit.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Shaqia Bryant was struck by a vehicle about 6 a.m. Tuesday while attempted to cross Normandy Boulevard near Lamplighter Lane. Troopers said she was walked into the vehicle's path and died at the scene.
If the district's high schools started at a later time, Shine said, Bryant would have been walking in the daylight, possibly preventing the crash.
“Since I’ve been in the school board and in this district, I think we’ve had four pedestrian fatalities with students. That’s about one a year," he said. "That’s way too many.”
The standard start time for Duval County high schools is 7:15 a.m., but there are a handful of high schools that do have start time after 8 a.m.
Shine said he's been pushing for high schools to start at a later time, but funding has been an issue.
According to Shine, it would cost the Duval County Public Schools roughly $54,000 to change the bus schedules for high schools to start later in the morning.
“One of the reasons we have such an early start time for high school is because of cost, bus transportation. It would actually make more sense to move the start for high school later into the morning," Shine said. "One, it’s safer for students. And two, we know from many studies that kids do better, especially high school kids, when they start later in the day.”
After Bryant's death, Shine hopes the Duval County school district will get on board with high school students starting class at a later time.
Shine said he sent a written correspondence Tuesday to Interim Superintendent Dr. Patricia Willis, as he hopes the school district will consider starting high school at a later time.