This fall, middle school students in Harrisonburg will be in class for 15 minutes more each day. School officials say it's to allow more time for elective classes.

This time change might cause a problem for bus schedules. The Harrisonburg School Board approved the plan in Tuesday night's school board meeting.

So middle school students will have to be in class five minutes earlier and they will get out ten minutes later. The board says the added time will also accommodate the new Skyline Middle and Smithland Elementary schools.

Since bus service is shared among all three school levels, the board is now proposing to extend the day for all students in that school district.

Harrisonburg Assistant Superintendent Mike Loso says, "We want to make sure there is enough time between the dismissal times,and arrival times of students so that busses can get kids to school on time and pick them up on time after school."

The longer day for elementary and high school students is just a proposal at this point, but if it's approved, it will add just five minutes to their school day.