Most Clark County School District elementary schools run from 9:15 a.m. to 3:26 p.m. in 2026 to 2027. Middle schools run from 7:30 a.m. to 1:41 p.m., and high schools run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:41 p.m. Those are the general times on CCSD's Just the Facts sheet on school start times, and they took effect Monday, August 10, 2026. All times here are Pacific.
The word "general" is doing real work. On the district's own school by school list, 49 elementary schools start at 7:30 a.m.
What time does CCSD elementary school start?
For most families, 9:15 a.m. The current 2026 to 2027 CCSD Bell Time Schedule, dated July 14, 2026, and linked under School Bell Information on the district's Students page, lists 229 schools that end in "ES." CCSD Insider counted them on October 31:
162 start at 9:15 a.m. Most of those let out at 3:26 p.m. Seventeen, including eight magnets, let out at 3:45 p.m.
49 start at 7:30 a.m. and let out at 1:41 p.m. or 2:00 p.m.
9 start at 8:30 a.m.
9 more start somewhere between 8:00 a.m. and 9:05 a.m., including the rural Goodsprings and Sandy Valley schools at 8:00 a.m.
These are the 49 elementary schools on the 7:30 a.m. bell: Booker, Bozarth, Brookman, Bruner, Richard Bryan, Bunker, Christensen, Conners, Cortez, Culley, Dearing, Detwiler, Dooley, Ira Earl, Edwards, Elizondo, Ferron, James Gibson, Goldfarb, Goynes, Gragson, Hancock, Harmon, Herr, Herron, Hewetson, Jacobson, Jeffers, Jones Blackhurst, Martin Luther King, Lake, Lincoln, Lunt, Lynch, McDoniel, Mendoza, Parson, Petersen, Scott, Simmons, Hal Smith, Helen Smith, Sunrise Acres, Tate, Sandra Lee Thompson, Twin Lakes, Tom Williams, Kitty Ward, and Warren.
That list comes from the July 14 schedule, the current district document. If your school's website shows a different time, confirm with the front office.
The 8:30 a.m. group is Blue Diamond, Clyde Cox, Duncan, Indian Springs, Katz, Lundy, Mackey, Manch, and Twitchell.
CCSD's fact sheet says only that "some schools with specialized programming or shared transportation with another school may have different start times." It does not say why these particular schools landed on the early tier. Compared with the 2025 to 2026 schedule on the same page, 48 of the 49 started at 8:00 a.m. last year, so their mornings got 30 minutes earlier. Of the 162 schools now at 9:15 a.m., 132 started at 9:00 a.m. last year.
What time do CCSD middle and high schools start?
Middle schools start at 7:30 a.m. Of the 57 middle and junior high listings, 54 start then. Garrett starts at 8:20 a.m. Knudson and Robert Gibson each list 8:30 a.m. for the regular program and 7:30 a.m. for the magnet program. Dismissal times vary more, because CCSD's fact sheet says magnets and Career and Technical Academies keep "their unique dismissal bell times" for a longer day. Cashman Magnet, for example, lets out at 2:24 p.m.
Comprehensive high schools start at 8:30 a.m. and most let out at 2:41 p.m. That is an hour and a half later than the 7:00 a.m. start most high schools had in 2025 to 2026. The exceptions on the July list include Clark Magnet and Southeast CTA at 7:30 a.m., Moapa Valley at 7:45 a.m., Legacy, Rancho Magnet, and Virgin Valley at 8:15 a.m., and Las Vegas Academy and the three CSN high schools at 8:00 a.m.
Why did CCSD change school start times?
The district says it was about teenagers and sleep, limited by buses. CCSD announced the change January 20, 2026. In that announcement, Superintendent Jhone Ebert said later high school starts lead to "more sleep, reduced anxiety, and greater alertness." The fact sheet says CCSD received about 90,000 responses across two surveys.
Every school can't start at 8:30, the district says, because one bus and driver cover an elementary, a middle, and a high school route each morning and afternoon. The announcement says that fleet serves 31,000 stops a day and gets more than 120,000 students to school. Starting every school at once, it says, would mean tripling the fleet.
The fact sheet concedes that a 7:30 a.m. middle school start "does not fully align with the 8:00 a.m. recommendation" in some research. CCSD says this setup let it move 80,000 high school students later while avoiding "unintended safety impacts" on young children. At a January 20 press conference, Ebert put the cost at a one time $5.6 million for more buses from bond funds, plus $5.1 million a year for staffing and maintenance, The Nevada Independent reported. Neither the district's announcement nor its fact sheet gives a dollar figure.
Finding your school's exact time
Open the 2026 to 2027 bell schedule on the Students page. An April 2026 version of the list is still online and still turns up in search, and it is out of date for two schools. The April file listed Las Vegas Academy at 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Desert Rose High School at 9:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The July 14 file lists 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. For magnet programs, the fact sheet points families to each magnet school's website.
If your school's website or front office gives a different time than the district list, ask the office which one is current.
Does CCSD have early release days?
Not on the district calendar. The 2026 to 2027 student calendar lists no early release or minimum days. It does list full days off, which we track in our CCSD calendar checklist.
Schools sometimes shorten a day for testing or conferences. The Transportation Department's FAQ says that when release times change, "the schools and/or the driver will let the students know." Buses shift by the same amount. If school lets out an hour early, plan on the bus reaching your stop about an hour early too.
Bus stop times
Your child's stop time comes from CCSD, not from the bell list. The Transportation parents page says students who are already routed will find routing information in their Infinite Campus portal mailbox. The CCSD Onboard app shows stop information and tracks the bus. The same page links a bus eligibility site where you enter your address and school type.
A few rules from the Transportation FAQ shape the morning and afternoon:
Be at the stop 10 minutes before the scheduled pickup.
Buses usually leave school about 7 minutes after the release bell. Afternoon drop off times are estimates and can vary by up to 15 minutes.
Transportation sends Bus Alert texts when a bus runs more than 10 to 15 minutes late, to phone numbers in your child's Infinite Campus record. If it's more than 15 minutes past the stop time, call 702 799 8100.
The two mile walk zone under Regulation 3531 is measured along streets from the school's main entrance to your home. Students on a zone variance don't get a bus.
Delays have been a real problem this fall. FOX5 reported September 30 that district delay notices showed some routes 10 to 45 minutes late, and that CCSD cited a 90 percent on time rate in mid August. CCSD's fact sheet points families who want a different schedule to Open Enrollment, but the district's Open Enrollment FAQ says those students get no CCSD bus. Applications for 2027 to 2028 close January 12, 2027, at 3:00 p.m., according to the district's Open Enrollment page.
Safekey before and after school
At many elementary schools, yes. But a city or the county runs it, not CCSD, and which one depends on your school. The Southern Nevada Safekey Site Listing, updated July 2026, names the provider for each school:
City of Las Vegas: 702 229 5437
City of Henderson: 702 267 4100
City of North Las Vegas: 702 633 1608
Clark County Parks and Recreation: 702 455 8251
Boulder City: 702 293 9256
City of Mesquite: 702 346 8732
The City of Las Vegas Safekey page lists a $25 yearly registration fee per child, $7 morning passes, and $10 afternoon passes for kindergarten through fifth grade. Its 2026 to 2027 site sheet, last updated August 17, shows what the new bells did. At 9:15 schools, morning care usually opens at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. and runs until shortly before class. Fifteen of its 71 sites have no morning program at all, and 14 of those 15 are 7:30 a.m. schools. At those campuses the long stretch is the afternoon, from 1:41 or 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The regional listing shows three North Las Vegas schools on the 7:30 bell, Herron, Lincoln, and Tom Williams, with no Safekey program at all.
Clark County's Safekey page serves kindergarten through eighth grade at participating schools. It charges a $10 participation fee per child, says spots are first come, first served, and says the program doesn't run when school is out.
Demand jumped with the later start. Israel Alvarez, who helps run the city program, told KTNV in August that the morning group at Fong Elementary grew from six children to as many as 16. If you need a spot, call before you count on one.
Who to call
For a bus stop, route, or late bus, call CCSD Transportation at 702 799 8100 or email transportation@nv.ccsd.net. The Transportation parents page lists hours of 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For your school's bell schedule, call the school's front office. That's where CCSD's start time fact sheet sends questions. For Safekey, call the provider listed for your school above. The district's main line is 702 799 2273 (702 799 CCSD), as printed on the start times announcement.
CCSD Insider is an independent parent resource and is not affiliated with the Clark County School District.