Hah. So what? They also walked through two feet of snow to get there, or so it's said.
When I was in junior high and high school, Ii had to leave the house--by car driven by my mother or a neighbor--at 7:30. It was DARK at that time for much of the winter. I survived.
Do people prefer that their kids leave school in the afternoon in the dark? Kids always have activities; it's not as if they usually leave the moment the last class ends.