GLOVERSVILLE — The later elementary school starting time will work out easily in her family, but McNab parent Liz Carey said Friday it may be a hardship to parents trying to get to work by 9 a.m.

The plan to move back the elementary starting time from 8:30 to 9 a.m. as of September was announced July 21 by Superintendent Robert DeLilli. DeLilli said staggering the elementary and upper-level bus schedules will reduce costs by reducing the number of buses and drivers on regular runs and make drivers available for special education routes to Albany. Those routes had been contracted out at considerable expense.

Carey said her two daughters — Echo, entering fourth grade, and Willow, going into fifth — will love the new schedule because they can sleep later.

Under the old schedule, Carey said, her daughters boarded the bus at 7 a.m. Carey reports to work at 7:30 a.m. Her husband, Scott, is long gone by then, on his way to work in Albany.

She said she anticipates her daughters will be able to board the bus a bit later this September, but early enough so that she can make it to her job.

But Carey said some of her friends “are right at the wire,” dropping off their kids at 8:30 as they scramble to work. With no early drop-off program in the school system, Carey said, some parents may have a difficult time accommodating the new schedule.

But, she said, “our girls will love it; it means they can sleep that much longer.”

When DeLilli presented the plan to the Board of Education, he said it will also save elementary children from getting on the buses in the dark in the winter.

Though DeLilli said this week the new schedule will be implemented, the two top school board officers said they want to discuss it further at the Aug. 4 meeting.

Board President Perry Paul said Friday he wants the board to review all the pertinent issues and take a vote before putting the new schedule in place.

While parents who have contacted him have been positive about the idea, he said, he wants more information about the projected savings.

“I want to make sure we have all the facts,” he said. “We want to make sure it’s the best possible solution, that it will result in savings and that it will not cause any havoc,” Paul said.

Vice President Peter Semione said Friday he had not heard any comment from parents on the new plan.

Semione said the plan requires more discussion before being implemented. “We need a little more information before we put it in motion … I think we’re a little ahead of ourselves saying that it’s a go,” he said. Semione said he also wants more analysis on the projected savings.

Board member Betsy Simek said parents will obviously have to adjust schedules, and that may help some families and pressure others.

The impact has not been evaluated, she said. “If you’re starting half an hour later something has to give,” she said.