Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano reported to Mercer Island School Board members at their Feb. 11 meeting that Mercer Island High School will move from early-release Wednesdays to late-start Wednesdays for the 2016-17 school year.

Under the late-start schedule, high school will begin at 8:45 a.m. and release at 2:50 p.m. Plano initially shared the late-start change with board members at their Jan. 26 retreat. At the Feb. 11 regular meeting, he said the district’s transportation team was currently working on putting together bus routes and route times.

“We believe that we’ll have the internal capacity to do the work with our yellow buses with our own employees,” Plano said, noting the district is hiring more bus drivers.

Board member Adair Dingle, a vocal advocate for moving back high school start times, thanked Plano for his work on the late start. She noted the research on the issue and called moving back high school start times critical to adolescent health and mental health.

“I hope that you’re continuing for an every-day-of-the-week late start at the high school,” she said.