Belaire is on the verge of becoming the third Baton Rouge public high school to shift its start times to better align with when children learn, based on research on their sleep patterns.
The high school and nearby Park Forest Middle would start school 80 minutes later than current times, while four elementary schools that feed into Belaire would start 40 minutes earlier. And those four elementary schools would have children in fewer grades but would draw from much larger attendance zones.
With little discussion, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to the changes. The board is expected to ratify the changes at its regular meeting on May 14. They would take effect in August at the start of the 2026-27 school year…