The draft legislation that would push the start of the school day to 9 a.m. also includes a provision requiring local governments to arrange school transportation for children living outside urban areas if their route to school passes through potentially hazardous terrain or along roads where vehicles travel faster than 50 kilometers per hour. School bus stops would have to meet standard bus stop requirements, meaning that in the case of narrow roads, municipalities would have to build separate stopping areas.

"This could lead to a situation where we're expected to provide a door-to-door service, and the bus stop must meet requirements that we simply can't fulfill on private land," said Saue Municipal Mayor Andres Laisk.

According to Andrus Nilisk, head of the North Estonia Public Transport Center, one in four bus stops in Estonia currently consists of just a sign on a roadside shoulder, without the required paved surface. Upgrading these stops could cost between €50,000 and €100,000 each and would take at least a year to complete.

"There's quite a bit of subjectivity in this regulation — terms like 'adequate' and 'safe' are not clearly defined. If we end up having to respond to a resident's opinion that a stop is not sufficient or safe, we'll find ourselves in trouble under the wording of this regulation," Laisk added.

The provision in the new regulation establishing a 9 a.m. school start time would also bring major changes to county bus schedules, Nilisk said.

"We did a preliminary estimate in-house and found that it would mean about 700,000 additional kilometers — roughly speaking — so around a million euros in added costs. It's simply not feasible by September 1; the buses and drivers just don't exist," Nilisk explained.

The municipality of Kuusalu spent the entire previous academic year preparing for a later start time at the local high school, which turned out to be a complex logistical challenge.

"When we make plans, we have to coordinate with neighboring municipalities, with our own schools and with public transport lines. Any small change can trigger a major disruption in the entire logistics system," said Kuusalu Mayor Terje Kraanvelt.

The Ministry of Education, however, says the new regulation does not mandate a 9 a.m. start time or require the launch of new bus routes.

"Many of these concerns from local governments stem from the fact that there hasn't yet been a chance to discuss things together. Maybe school buses won't be needed as much if we can reach agreements with public transit providers. Or maybe neither public transit nor school buses will be necessary if small communities can organize among parents how children get to school," said Marjeta Venno, head of the ministry's curriculum division.

The Ministry of Education will not cover the additional costs of school transportation.

"I would argue that this is a matter of local autonomy. You simply can't prescribe such detailed requirements in legislation; these are issues that need to be solved within local communities," Venno added.

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