Wicomico County Schools Change Time Your Children Will Go To And Leave School At Some Schools Next Year

School Start and End Times Adjusted for 2011-12 School Year

School start and end times for some Wicomico County Public Schools will be adjusted by 15 minutes for the 2011-12 school year as the school system strives to provide transportation efficiently and economically so as much education funding as possible can be spent in the classroom.

Some schools will see no change in schedule for 2011-12. Others (mostly secondary schools) will start 15 minutes earlier, and some elementary schools will start 15 minutes later.

“The goal is to become more efficient by retaining the same level of service while using fewer resources for transportation, since any dollars spent on transportation are dollars that cannot be spent in the classroom,” said David E. Reeve, Supervisor of Transportation. “By changing the start and end times for some schools, we create a larger window of time for transportation, allowing us to provide the same level of service with fewer buses.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the school system changing school start and end times?

The fiscal year 2011-12 budget that the Board of Education will adopt by June 30 is expected to have approximately $6 million less in funding than this year’s budget. This presents considerable challenges in all areas of the budget, including transportation. The school system is adjusting school start and end times to make more efficient use of the buses that serve its students. With school start and end times spread out over a longer period of time, the more than 12,000 students who are eligible for school bus transportation can be transported with fewer buses, reducing the school system’s cost. In most cases, students will experience little change from the adjustment of start and end times. In other cases, students who may have waited a half-hour after school dismissal for the bus to arrive, will have their wait time at school reduced, resulting in students arriving at their home stop no later than in previous years.

How will the new start and end times save money on transportation?

By opening up a larger window of time for bus transportation, the school system will be able to reduce the number of buses it needs to serve its students. By changing school times, the transportation time window can be expanded, requiring fewer buses to transport the same number of students. Some buses that currently complete only one trip will be able to complete two trips, and some buses that now complete two trips will be able to complete three trips. Many buses will cover more miles and will spend more minutes on the road – even though in most cases students will spend no additional time on the bus -- to transport students more efficiently. The school system anticipates having at least five open bus contracts whose trips would be assigned to other buses. A reduction of 5 buses is estimated to generate a $120,000 reduction. Savings are generated by eliminating the per vehicle allotment for five buses and the reimbursement for “dead head” time and mileage -- the time and miles traveled from the garage to the first student stop, last morning school back to the garage, from the garage to the first afternoon school and from the last afternoon student stop back to the garage. With changes in school start and end times and route adjustments, Wicomico can continue to provide bus transportation for the 12,000 eligible students at a lower cost.

Which schools will start and end 15 minutes earlier next year?

Secondary schools will begin classes at 7:45 a.m. and end the day at 2:45 p.m. These schools include Bennett Middle, James M. Bennett High, Mardela Middle and High, Parkside High, Salisbury Middle, Wicomico Middle and Wicomico High.

Some elementary schools will also begin and end 15 minutes earlier than the current schedule. Delmar Elementary will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 2:45 p.m. The Magnet programs at North Salisbury Elementary and Pemberton Elementary will start at 8:15 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m. North Salisbury Elementary and Pemberton Elementary students, along with students at West Salisbury Elementary and Pinehurst Elementary, will start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. Prince Street Elementary will start at 8 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.

Which schools will start and end 15 minutes later next year?

Beaver Run Elementary, East Salisbury Elementary, Fruitland Intermediate, Fruitland Primary, Westside Primary and Westside Intermediate will begin the school day 15 minutes later (9:15 a.m.) and end it 15 minutes later (3:45 p.m.).

Which schools will have no change in start and end times in 2011-12?

Pittsville Elementary and Middle, Charles H. Chipman Elementary, Glen Avenue Elementary, Northwestern Elementary, Willards Elementary and the Wicomico Early Learning Center will have no change in start and end times next year.

When will families be able to find out about any bus changes, such as new pickup and drop-off times and changes in the number of the bus?

Bus route and schedule adjustments will be made this summer. The Transportation Department will provide schools preliminary bus serving lists by the first week of June. By Aug. 1, a schedule of updated bus stop locations with estimated bus stop times for each bus will be provided to each school. School bus transportation information will be posted online on school web pages and at http://www.wcboe.org/departments/Transportation/ as it becomes available.