a presentation to the Governing Board Paul M. Novak - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

a presentation to the Governing Board Paul M. Novak March 5, 2019

Background • Recurring performance issues related to on-time student pickups and drop-offs • Occasional overcrowding of buses on routes Worsening school bus driver turnover rate • Difficulty recruiting quality school bus drivers • • Rapid growth in special needs student transportation as a related service • Students grandfathered under next year’s boundary changes • Non-boundary programs that are supported with student transportation services

Bell Time Principles • “Is it good for students” must be our guiding principle Bell times directly correlate to transportation’s: •  successful performance  cost-efficiency Uniform bell times are greatly beneficial to: •  families  programs  instructional staff Young teens (7 th & 8 th grade) generally benefit from • later start times

Current GPS Bell Times

Developing the Right Bell Times • Developing logical, efficient and acceptable bell time proposals is:  complex  time-consuming  unsettling to everyone  and in the case of GPS, requires a complete reengineering of the entire structure • Committees often conclude that the outcome must either:  benefit students, instruction & achievement  or benefit transportation operations . . ….but not both

Parallel Considerations Steps to ensure that adopted bell times work as • intended:  Develop logical special needs boundaries  Uniform arrival windows for buses in a.m.  Follow bus manufacturers seating capacity  Schools must load students rapidly in p.m.  Buses must stay on schedule; no returns  All open enrolled students register to ride  Cutoff date to register intent to grandfather

Adjacent Districts’ Bell Time Patterns 1 ST 2 ND 3 RD DISTRICT MPS NAME BELL BELL BELL CUSD H.S. E.S. J.H.S. HUSD H.S. E.S. J.H.S. GPS MPS H.S. E.S. J.H.S. QCUSD H.S. E.S. J.H.S. QCUSD HUSD CUSD

Impact of Proposed Changes on High Schools CRITERIA CURRENT OPTION #1 OPTION #2 Number of H.S. bell times 1 1 1 Total spread, first to last bell time 0 min. 0 min. 0 min. Avg. earliest morning pickup time 6:35 AM 7:30 AM 6:45 AM Morning drop time @ schools 7:00 AM 7:55 AM 7:10 AM Avg. student ride times 25 min. 25 min. 25 min. Number of H.S. regular ed buses 51 *65 *65 Length of H.S. instructional day 7 hrs. 00 min. 6 hrs. 55 min. 6 hrs. 55 min. *Estimate only. Upon adoption of new bell times, the entire bus routing system will be revamped to optimize all routes to maximize efficiency.

Impact of Proposed Changes on Junior High Schools CRITERIA CURRENT OPTION #1 OPTION #2 Number of J.H.S. bell times 3 1 1 Total spread, first to last bell time 20 min. 0 min. 0 min. Avg. earliest morning pickup time 7:02 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM Morning drop times @ schools 7:30-7:50 AM 8:25 AM 8:25 AM Avg. student ride times 23 min. 25 min. 25 min. Number of J.H.S. regular ed buses 56 *65 *65 Length of J.H.S. instructional day 7 hrs. 02 min. 7 hrs. 00 min. 6 hrs. 55 min. *Estimate only. Upon adoption of new bell times, the entire bus routing system will be revamped to optimize all routes to maximize efficiency.

Impact of Proposed Changes on Elementary Schools CRITERIA CURRENT OPTION #1 OPTION #2 Number of E.S. bell times 6 1 1 Total spread, first to last bell time 55 min. 0 min. 0 min. Avg. earliest morning pickup time 7:30 AM 6:55 AM 7:25 AM Morning drop times @ schools 7:50-8:35 AM 7:20 AM 7:50 AM Avg. student ride times 17 min. 25 min. 25 min. Number of E.S. regular ed buses 80 *65 *65 Length of E.S. instructional day 6 hrs. 47 min. 6 hrs. 45 min. 6 hrs. 45 min. % of P.M. E.S. buses that are late 66% 0% 0% *Estimate only. Upon adoption of new bell times, the entire bus routing system will be revamped to optimize all routes to maximize efficiency.

Impact of Proposed Changes District-wide CRITERIA CURRENT OPTION #1 OPTION #2 Number of bell times (districtwide) 9 3 3 Number of regular ed bus routes 80 *65 *65 Number of special ed bus routes 58 *50 *50 Total bus routes (excluding vans) 138 *115 *115 Number of preschool start times 8 1 1 Bus driver staffing requirements 175 *140 *140 Total school bus fleet size 257 *170 *170 *Estimate only. Upon adoption of new bell times, the entire bus routing system will be revamped to optimize all routes to maximize efficiency.

Age of School Bus Fleet PERCENT OF TOTAL FLEET 17% 23% 5% 47% 17% 25% 13% Under 5 yrs. 6-10 yrs. 11-12 yrs. 13-15 yrs. 16-19 yrs. Over 20 yrs.

Age of School Bus Fleet After Reduction PERCENT OF TOTAL FLEET 35% 7% 20% 35 38% Under 5 yrs. 6-10 yrs. 11-12 yrs. 13-15 yrs.

Paul M. Novak March 5, 2019