Student-Led Rally Opposes Delayed CPS School Start Times in Daley Plaza

cps protest 2Vergara-Miranda said she’ll have to do fewer extracurriculars so she can continue helping to care for siblings at home if CPS keeps the later start time for her high school.

Another organizer, Katelyn Hutchison, 14, of South Shore, said she participates in three after-school sports. The later start time means she’ll be walking home in the dark at 8:30 or 9 p.m., something she is concerned about since she doesn’t “live in the best of neighborhoods.”

“A lot of bad things could happen to me,” Hutchison said.

Hutchison’s father, Kelly, said it will be “dark and dangerous” when his daughter walks home under the new starting and ending times. They are trying to figure out how they would handle that, he said, since Katelyn, a 4.14 GPA student in Advanced Placement courses, has a lot on her plate and he is a single father.

Another protester who faces a similar situation, Nicholas Timms, 16, of Roseland, said his mother broke his heart when she suggested he give up cross country so he could get home earlier to be safe. Staying later at school would also mean he would pay more for CTA rides due to the 8:30 p.m. end time of discounted trips for students, Timms said.

Students also said they are worried the sacrifices they’ll need to make to get home earlier — giving up after-school sports and clubs — will hurt them when they apply to universities. Schools want a “well-rounded student,” Vergara-Miranda said, and other protesters said they’re frustrated CPS wants them to be well-rounded but is making it harder to pursue after-school activities.

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