Early dismissal days for Wake schools begin

The goal is to give teachers time to meet together in professional learning communities, or PLCs, so they can share techniques.

"They (teachers) will share ideas with somebody else and try to find the best ways to get kids to learn, which is really going to make an impact on overall student performance and ultimately test results,” school district spokesman Michael Evans said.

The schools with the earliest start times will add the additional 10 minutes at the end of the school day. The schools with the latest start times will add the additional 10 minutes at the start of the school day.

Some parents say the early dismissal is difficult to work with, particularly when it comes to arranging child care.

"With three kids in the Wake County Public School System, in three different schools, I have more complexity in my life than I care to deal with right now,” parent David Martin said.

Martin said he favors teacher workdays instead of early dismissal.

"I just think it would be much simpler if we had set full teacher work days and everyone can plan around it,” he said.

Evans said doing the early dismissal on Fridays was talked about but would have conflicted with too many extra-curricular activities.