The last day of school for students in the Warren County School District will be a full day next year.

A proposal had been made to return to a past tradition and have the last day be half day for students starting next school year.

Superintendent Amy Stewart said she believes the practice was stopped in 2012 or 2013.

The proposal was brought forward by board member John Wortman, who presented data showing that 18 districts in the region “practice some sort of early dismissal.”

“I felt that there were professional items that administration, faculty and staff could address in that half day,” Wortman said.

But he said he’s also considering the student experience.

“When I was in the district, the half day provided a lot of memorable experiences,” he said. “So many of our kids that are in our district today experienced COVID (and) had a lot of traditional childhood experiences changed for them. I just worry. In today’s society, our kids have lost so much of that.”

“We also want the kids to have fun,” Stewart said, but she cited demographic changes that show “a whole bunch of our kids” cannot enjoy the experiences Wortman outlined because they don’t have parents available.

She said implementing field days in conjunction with the PTOs was done because it opens up those experiences to all students.

“We look at the whole picture,” she said. The half day “could be a really fun experience for some and not for others.”

But Stewart said that the overarching concern of the administration is safety.

“We don’t early dismiss,” she said, “because of the intricacy. It takes an army… to get those kids home when things haven’t changed.

“There’s nothing worse,” she added, than “when you’re sitting with a parent and you don’t know where their child is.”

“(We) will have kids that get delivered where there are not parents at,” Transportation Manager Mike Kiehl said. “We haven’t had a half-day where we haven’t had that issue.”

Kiehl told the board that some of the district’s bus contractors are concerned about the prospect.

If the district doesn’t dismiss early, Wortman asked why the district operates two-hour delays “in a span of hours.”

“The last day would not be a safety reason,” Stewart said, and students, in that scenario, are “already in the care of the parents.”

Kiehl said that staff would “make it happen” if the board went that direction.

But the board did not go that direction. A straw poll revealed that Wortman was the only one interested in the half-day option.

Board President Paul Mangione raised concerns about the availability of after-school options, especially in the outlying areas of the county.

Board member Mary Passinger said she “loved” the half day as a teacher.

“While I think that afternoon is valuable,” she said, “I can’t get past not having the drivers.”

Board member Tammi Holden raised the concern about whether students would be offered lunch on that last day if it were a half-day.

Board member Dan Sullivan said he has “dealt with it both ways” and said it was hard for his family to accommodate an early dismissal when he was in school.

“It seems like a lot of moving parts,” Mangione added.