As Duval County Public Schools rolled out a new bell schedule for the 2026-27 year, parent Jameson Simmons questioned early bus arrivals at Mandarin High School.
A Warning From Other Students, Then an Early Wake-Up Call
In an account to News4JAX, Simmons said other students riding the bus warned his son he needed to get to the stop early, prompting the teen to get up earlier than normal the following morning. Simmons said he struggled to get a clear explanation or a reliable point of contact when he tried to resolve the bus-timing issue.
He said he reached out directly to Mandarin High School, and the principal told him the schedule change would take effect later in the month, per Simmons's account. Simmons said he was worried that families could easily miss the message altogether if a student was absent, missed the bus, or simply didn't hear the announcement come through.
A Parent's Safety Concerns
Simmons said his concern was not just inconvenience: he worried about teenagers waiting without supervision and the potential safety risks.
District Points to Vendor Issues With Magnet Bus Routes
When News4JAX contacted Duval County Public Schools about the bus-arrival concerns, the district acknowledged that operational and communication errors had occurred while a vendor worked to fix late arrival times affecting magnet buses. DCPS said it would review what happened and figure out the best resolution for the students and families involved.
The district also said it would contact the families affected directly with updates and would apologize to them for the errors. It's part of a broader rollout this year: for the 2026-27 school year, Duval high schools shifted to a standard bell schedule of 7:10 a.m. to 2:05 p.m., replacing last year's 7:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. hours, according to Duval County Public Schools.
Why the Schedule Changed in the First Place
The school board approved the new calendar, which was informed by stakeholder input. DCPS has also cautioned that not every high school follows the standard bell times, meaning some campuses carry exceptions to the new hours.
Families were told this year that students must be registered for DCPS transportation to ride a bus at all, and that bus stop details wouldn't show up in the district's FOCUS system until at least 10 business days after registration — and never before July 27.
Earlier Bus Problems and What District Guidance Covers
Earlier Bus Problems and What District Guidance Covers A separate Duval County bus-service problem involved late pickups and missed stops: in an incident reported Aug. 11, 2021, The Florida Times-Union described both types of delays. Duval County Public Schools’ magnet-transportation guidance tells parents and guardians to ensure students travel safely to and from bus stops and are supervised at the stop. That guidance addresses stop safety, not route on-time performance figures, and does not establish a supervision rule for early arrivals on campus.
