Wichita public schools’ later dismissal times will affect athletics, official says

High school football and soccer practices are expected to be shorter in the Wichita public schools this year due to later dismissal times. Game times could also be affected.

School will dismiss 30 minutes later than in past years in order to save the district money.

The later practice starts directly impact football and soccer in October because the district’s seven public high schools don’t use lights for practice.

“Any of those (sports) that are reliant on daylight — as you get down to the end of the fall seasons or start of the spring seasons — you’re losing 30 minutes of practice,” City League athletic director J Means said.

Girls golf and girls tennis likely won’t be as affected as much because their seasons end in early October. Boys golf and tennis, which start in March, would be hurt early in the season.

“What I’m more concerned about is since it’s obviously going to push back the start of practice and will push back the end of practice, there’s less time to get homework done,” North football coach Joe Belden said.

As for games, the goal is to keep students in class for the majority of the day.

“But if it’s dark, your competition is done,” Means said.

Tennis duals may still begin at 4 p.m. to ensure they finish. Golf cannot move its start times, nor can bowling practices.

“They have to be off the bowling lanes at a certain time for leagues,” Means said. “They’ll lose 30 minutes of practice, but we may try to get practice times on a Saturday or a Sunday. Those are just thoughts at this point.”

For soccer, East, North, Southeast and West do not have lights, so they cannot start later.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Wichita public schools’ later dismissal times will affect athletics, official says."