Members of the Bellevue and Mercer Island school districts are exploring the possibility of delaying the start times for its high schools.

Last month, the Bellevue School District Board and its superintendent announced they were working on building guidelines for a steering committee, and after reaching out to several other school districts in the area, found a partner in Mercer Island as officials agreed to join the effort.

A draft of the subcommittee’s purpose statement is currently being reviewed by Bellevue superintendent Dr. Tim Mills and Mercer Island superintendent Dr. Gary Plano.

Mills, who previously worked for an Oregonian school district with a later start time, said he’s seen the benefits of a later class schedule, which included higher grade-point averages and more alert students.

“We’re at the formation of a study of how that would look for our district,” Mills said. “We have to be very thoughtful looking at all sides of this to determine if it’ll work in Bellevue.”

The two school districts are slated to meet again in the next couple of weeks to discuss the next steps and who should be appointed to the steering committee.

Mercer Island public information and records officer Randy Bolerjack said discussions are at a very preliminary stage, as the two districts define how to go about the process.

The Bellevue School District is scheduled to meet again on Oct. 21.

The Mercer Island School Board’s next meeting, a joint meeting with Mercer Island’s City Council, will be Oct. 16.