White Bear Lake schools will shift secondary start times this fall

White Bear Lake Area Schools will change the daily schedules for its middle schools and White Bear Lake Area High School when the 2026-27 school year begins, according to a district announcement issued July 12, 2026.

Middle schools will start at 9:15 a.m. and dismiss at 4 p.m. White Bear Lake Area High School will run from 8:20 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. The district describes the adjustments as minor and says they are intended to make bus operations more efficient while reducing transportation-related delays and disruptions.

For families, the change means new arrival and pickup windows at the district’s middle schools and regular high school. The announcement does not provide the previous secondary-school schedules, so it does not establish the exact size of the shift from the current timetable.

Which schools are changing hours

The announced change is limited to the district’s middle schools and regular high school. The Area Learning Center/Manitou Campus will keep its 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. schedule and is not being placed on the regular high-school timetable.

Elementary schedules also will remain unchanged. Matoska International will operate from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other elementary schools will run from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

The district has not provided an expected savings figure or stated how many students will be affected. The transportation rationale is operational: White Bear Lake’s transportation department serves more than 3,400 bus-stop locations each day across a 45-square-mile community.

Transportation information is due in August

High-school families have a separate step to watch for before the new schedule takes effect. The district says high-school transportation information is scheduled to be posted in student information profiles by Aug. 25, 2026.

Eligible high-school students must register for transportation. The registration requirement means the schedule announcement does not establish that every high-school student or family will receive bus service; eligibility and registration rules still apply.

The July 12 announcement establishes the school-day hours for 2026-27, while the Aug. 25 posting is the next stated deadline for high-school transportation information. Families can use the posted schedules to plan around the revised start times, dismissal times and transportation details once those details are available.