School start and end times for some Wicomico County Public Schools have been 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.”
Schools that will start and end 15 minutes earlier next year:
Secondary schools (except Pittsville Middle, no change) 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
Wicomico High
Some elementary schools will also begin and end 15 minutes earlier than the current schedule, as follows:
Prince Street Elementary will start at 8 a.m. and end at 2:30 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.
Delmar Elementary will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 2:45 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.
Schools that will start and end 15 minutes later in 2011-12, starting at 9:15 a.m. and ending at 3:45 p.m.:
Beaver Run Elementary
East Salisbury Elementary
Fruitland Intermediate
Fruitland Primary
Westside Primary
Westside Intermediate
Schools that 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
Wicomico Early Learning Center
Choices
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 adopted June 30 reflects reduced resources due to a $7 million cut in county funding from the previous year, and declining revenues from other sources including the state Foundation grant . This presents considerable challenges in all areas of the budget, including transportation. The school system has adjusted 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 school 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 school 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 start and end 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.
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 provided schools with preliminary bus serving lists in 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.
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I wonder if we are still required to call the bus driver for all the information, or will the school be providing the new information?
ReplyDeleteAlso it stated
"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."
What exactly does this mean? If they wait at the school for a lesser time, but still arrive at the bus stop at the same time as previous years, are they going to be sitting on the bus for a longer period of time?
For example, my 3 goto PES. In previous years, their bus was the last to arrive at the school for p/u. It was sometime around 4:00. They did not reach the bus stop until 420. If school ends at 315 this year, the bus will arrive at the school at 345 and according to the statement above, they will still arrive at the stop at 420.
Someone tell I am reading this wrong.
That's the way it sounds to me! Less busing means longer routes which means more time on the bus. I don't like the idea of our kids on they bus even longer than before. Also, the buses will be more crowded so they will be uncomfortable for a longer period of time.
ReplyDeleteA better solution would have been to redo their routes to be more efficient. Also, why does a bus need to stop at the apt behind PES? There is probably enough to make up a whole bus right there that the bus picks up when the students could just walk to school. They wouldn't even have to cross a road!
They do fill a bus with one stop at pemberton apartments. I have behind it several times. I read on wcboe.org that students living more than a 1 mile from there school are eligible for transportation. Pemberton apts is by what they stated not eligible for busing to PES.
ReplyDeleteDo they not read the policies that they are suppose to enforce?
Just incase it is stated in "Establishing Bus Routes" section 4, part A, last sentence. The are in fact adjacent to the school, they share a property line.
To PES credit, they did establish a quicker parent pick up routine. Sadly, I thought with the new times, my children could ride the bus home and not be stuck either at the school or on a bus for an hour this year. Looks like I will be picking them up once again this year.
Pick up and drop off times and locations are always provided by the bus contractors; that won't change. Parents are always welcome to drive their children to and from school should the bus schedules be unsuitable. We all need to stop being such complainers.
ReplyDeleteParents, your input was so valuable that not a single one of you was among the group that made these decisions. Also, because Prince Street is a failing school, its kids have a right to be transported to any Title 1 school in the county. Transportation has to be provided, no matter the distance or small number of kids. Why not wait to find out the cost of that before talking about savings in transportation?
ReplyDeleteIs that why some of the schools just suddenly became a school that is dropping Title 1? So that students at Prince Street do not have the option of attending there?
ReplyDelete