Consultant Finds Current Busing System Running ‘As Efficiently’ As Possible

By Larissa Lytwyn

Louis J. Boffardi of Transportation Advisory Services (TAS) concluded that the current three-tier system was operating “as efficiently and as timely a manner as is possible” in a report reviewed at the last school board meeting on December 21.

Mr Boffardi met with Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff, Transportation Director Anthony DiLonardo, and Business Director Ron Bienkowski in a series of meetings this past November 30 aimed at analyzing the possibility of shifting from a three- to two-tier system.

The two-tier system was a central proposal of the School Start Time Committee, which met between October of 2003 and August of 2004 to explore the potential of shifting older students to a later schedule and younger students to an earlier one to best accommodate students’ physical and academic needs.

Dr Pitkoff had hoped that the transportation department could at least be able to reduce time in the third tier to bring elementary aged students home earlier.

However, the Boffardi report estimated that to bring third-tier students home just ten minutes earlier would require nine additional buses and require the middle and high school students to begin school even earlier, at 7:20 instead of 7:30 am. Such an adjustment would cost an estimated $620,000.

“I was very disappointed by this finding,” said Dr Pitkoff. “We were really hoping we could tweak the system a bit better there, to save time in the third tier.”

To shift the three-tier system to a two-tier one, in which elementary students would arrive at school first, followed by middle and high school students, an additional 33 buses would be required, a 106 percent increase over the current 31-bus fleet. The fleet required would be about 64 large buses.

The change would elicit an “extraordinary cost,” said Dr Pitkoff, easily in the millions.

“If the district wishes to pursue this [two-tier] system further,” stated Mr Boffardi in his report, “it is strongly recommended that it begin a more detailed analysis now. This is not a project that can be begun in late winter to be implemented in September.”

As for the three-tier system, “given the school start time for the high school and the middle school, the number of buses in use and the length of time at the end of the day between the tiers, the transportation program appears to be operating as efficiently and as timely a manner as is possible,” Mr Boffardi concluded.

Board member David Nanavaty questioned whether a four-tier system could be reintroduced.

Dr Pitkoff said that the three-tier system was working well, particularly for middle school students.

Principal Diane Sherlock, he said, had discussed at length during School Start Time Committee meetings the multiple benefits students had reaped form the 7:30 am start time.

Students were found to be more alert, able to get their homework done more efficiently, and less prone to have disciplinary problems, Ms Sherlock said.

Dr Pitkoff also said that the four-tier system would be expensive to implement again. Any change, he said, would be potentially very costly.

Further, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Alice Jackson noted that under the four-tier system, students arrived home as late as 4:30 pm. Currently, students are home at 4:15 pm.

The difference was that the middle school and older elementary students were arriving later, Ms Jackson said.

Board Chairman Elaine McClure expressed disappointment that the School Start Time Committee members were not contacted in a timely manner about the Boffardi report discussion at the board meeting.

“I hope as we move forward, they do not get lost or forgotten,” she said, noting the “huge” amount of work and dedication the members had committed.

Board Secretary Andy Buzzi reminded fellow board members that the 60-square-mile geographical reality of the town could not be discounted in the difficulty of planning an optimally functioning transportation system.

During the public participation portion of the meeting, Head O’ Meadow parent Michelle Hankin expressed frustration over the report’s findings and said she hoped a more out-of-the-box way of thinking could be applied to find a way that would allow young elementary-aged students to arrive home earlier.

Ms McClure assured that the issue would be coming up again in the months ahead.