Afternoon Bus Run Decision August 3,2023 Letter PDF

 

 

Superintendent Update emailed to all BCSD families on August 1, 2023 

Dear Berlin parents/guardians

After reviewing all the information from the community forums, questions and statements sent directly to my attention, and faculty meetings, I am awaiting some final information in order to make a decision on the afternoon bus runs.

I had mentioned at the forums that my goal was to make the decision by July 31st.

Hence, I wanted to send an update out today. I intend to make the decision as soon as I obtain the remaining information.

Transportation will send out information on bus routes after a decision is made.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Respectfully,

A. Joseph Dhara

Superintendent

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAQ

 

Thank you to all who came out recently to the four Berlin CSD Community Forums regarding the proposed transition to a two bus-run schedule for BCSD. Many great questions were brought up at the forums and several were emailed as well.  The below FAQ captures the questions received and the answers put together and reviewed by the Administrative Team, the Transportation Department and the Athletic Department.  Please review the FAQ below. If you have any more questions, feel free to email them to Superintendent Joseph Dhara at jdhara@berlincentral.org.

 

Thank you again for your feedback. Your voice is critical to the district’s success.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

1.Could you please clarify the second late bus time at BES and BMHS?

 The second late bus will depart BES at around 4:35 PM and BMHS at 4:45 PM 

 

2. Will the New Lebanon Athletics shuttle bus be back in time to take the BMHS late late bus at 4:45 PM?

Yes. This is the goal.

 

3. What will be the change in duration of student’s times on the bus to and from school?

The students’ time on the bus in the afternoon should actually decrease due to fewer students on each of the two afternoon bus runs, leading to fewer drop offs and in some cases shorter routes. 

 

4. Has a later start helped with attendance rate?  In some cases, with the current start times parents/guardians are not home to get students up for school.

There is no data to indicate any improvement in attendance rate at BCSD with the shift to a later start time.

 

5. Will having fewer students on buses benefit driver’s attention on the road?

Yes. Fewer students on the buses will lead to less driver distraction. 

This will also allow for bus passes to return. With a bus pass, students may be dropped off at an alternate location other than their regular drop-off location when they have a pass from a parent/guardian.

The two-bus run will also allow for flexibility to relocate students in the afternoon to a different bus if a driver is unavailable.

 

6. How would the extended time at BES benefit the students?

Students at BES will be able to stay after school for extracurricular activities and enrichment without needing parent/guardian pickup. The length of the school day remains the same, so there would be no loss in academic time during the school day.

 

7. Why did we originally shift from a two-run bus schedule to a one run bus schedule in the afternoon? 

This was implemented to offer a later start time for students at BMHS. The newly proposed time will not be as early as the original start time before the shift in 2019 and will only be a 20 minute earlier start.  This was also seen as a cost savings at the time, however due to the national shortage of bus drivers it has led to packed buses on the afternoon runs.

 

8. Will bus notes now be allowed to other drop off points?

With the proposed two bus run return it will be possible for students with a bus note from a parent/guardian to be dropped off at points other than their designated drop-off points. 

 

9. How would this impact parent/guardian pickup and drop-off at both schools at the end of the day?

Parent/guardian pickup and drop-off locations at BES and BMHS will not change. BMHS will start and end 20 minutes earlier, and BES will start and end 15 minutes later. So, the times for drop-off and pickup will have to be adjusted accordingly.

Please note with this potential change:

•  Parents/guardians will not need to pick up students from BES if they stay for after school activities. Transportation will be provided to these students.

• Students riding the Shuttle for Athletics will not need parent/guardian pickup and can catch the late bus at 4:45 PM.

 

10.Would this impact the need for before or after school care?  Would the current provider (Healthy Kids) be willing to adjust their hours?  Would the provider be able to take on more students if there is a need? 

The aftercare start time would coincide with dismissal at BES.

We have reached out to the current BES aftercare program, Healthy Kids, to ask about implementing a Before School program. We will update the community if this becomes available.

 

11. Will all the buses arrive at the same time (lined up at 3:20 PM) at BES for dismissal?

Our goal is to have all buses lined up at BES by 3:20 PM with the exception of the Stephentown bus, which will pick up BMHS after-school students before arriving at BES. This bus will arrive to BES around 3:25 PM. The new improvement of the sidewalk loading area at BES will provide a quick and systematic PM loading routine at BES.

 

12. Why can’t we keep the start time as they are and still have two runs in the afternoon?

It would not be possible to have two runs in the afternoon unless BMHS moved their proposed start time earlier by 20 more minutes and BES later by 15 more minutes than currently proposed. The additional 35 minutes between runs in this proposed shift will enable our bus drivers to complete their BMHS afternoon run and pickup BES students with enough time.

 

13. How early will the earliest bus pick-up be for BMHS?

The estimated earliest pickup time for BMHS is 6:10 AM (currently the earliest pickup time is 6:30 AM).

 

14. Why can’t we have BES start first vs BMHS starting first?

Middle and high school students are required to have 990 hours of academic instruction during a school year compared to 900 hours of academic instruction for elementary school students.

A flip in the start times for BES and BMHS would impact student-athletes’ ability to participate in some athletic competitions. Also, with a later start students would miss academic periods at the end of the day in order to reach certain athletic competitions.

 

15. Will the Stephentown and Grafton bus arrive at BMHS later in the morning? Will the students still have the opportunity to have breakfast? 

All buses will arrive/unload and load/depart BMHS at the same time.  All BMHS students will have an equal opportunity to receive breakfast in the cafeteria. 

 

16. Will this shift the end time for evening athletics, allowing student-athletes to ride the late late bus home, helping parents/guardians that have had to pick up students in the evening for practices?

Yes.  We are working to ensure a smooth transition between the Berlin and New Lebanon Transportation departments.  Our priority is ensuring that the shuttle and after school buses are in alignment.

 

17. How will this impact coaches arriving to practices in a timely manner? And the length of practices?

Weekday practice time will be utilized as much as possible.  For teachers who are commuting to practice, we will have Asst. Coaches who aren’t teachers, start practices or move to strength and conditioning and/or study hall prior to practices starting.  Additional practice time can be scheduled Fridays or Saturdays.

 

18. How many BMHS students typically will be staying for academic extra time that will now be on the BES afternoon run?  Will the number be capped?

As we have not had the opportunity to run the one-hour academic support bus for multiple years, we do not have data to support how many students may stay after school on a regular basis.  It is estimated that we would not have more than 40 students staying after for academic or extracurricular clubs on a given day, but again, that is only an estimation. The number would not be capped as we do not want to limit academic and extracurricular opportunities for any of our students. 

 

19. Would the late buses still have a mix of older and younger students?

The only time this is expected to happen is when the after school students from BMHS ride the afternoon bus with the BES students.

The number of such students is expected to be far less than the entire student population of BMHS riding with the entire BES student population as is happening with the current one bus run in the afternoon.

 

20. How does someone get assigned to BMHS’ PM school? Will they take advantage of the system to stay late at school and come in late and not come in early?

Berlin Middle High School students who are chronically absent (missing 10% of school days) are assigned to BMHS’ PM school to make up for their absences. We do not anticipate students using this program to attend the BMHS PM school instead of attending regular school; however, we will monitor the program and address any situations that arise.

 

21. Will the bus run at BES be late as it was years ago where students had to wait in the gym?

No, all buses will arrive and line up by 3:20 PM with the exception of the 3:15 PM Stephentown bus picking up at BMHS which will arrive at approximately 3:25 PM. As stated earlier in the FAQ, the new improvement of the sidewalk loading area at BES will provide a quick and systematic PM loading routine at BES.

 

22. There still remains a concern for early pick up of the Grafton BMHS students.  Can there be an agreed upon hard time that no student ever gets picked up before?  

Our intentions are that the earliest pick-up time will be 6:10 AM. 

23. Is there a possibility of shifting lunch times down?  Example lunch is at 1:00 for some students?

Lunch times are determined based on scheduling needs.  At this time, lunches will be held between periods 5-8.

 

24. Are there state rules about how long a student can be on a bus? 

There are no state rules but there is a recommended length of time for bus rides. It is not uncommon for a student to be on the bus for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes due to the size of our district. 

As mentioned earlier in the FAQ, students’ time on the bus in the afternoon should actually decrease due to fewer students on each of the two afternoon bus runs, leading to fewer drop offs and in some cases shorter routes.

 

25. How would the new BMHS start time impact New Vision and CTE students taking classes at BMHS?

Students who are attending the morning CTE or New Vision programs will have a more condensed schedule for their afternoon BMHS classes, but will still fit in their graduation requirements.  Students who are attending the afternoon CTE program will actually gain more time in their morning schedule to accommodate their graduation requirements.   

 

26. How many BMHS students will be on the late late 4:45 PM bus run if some ride home on the 3:15 PM late bus run as well? 

This is dependent on how many students are involved in Athletics and which clubs will utilize the 4:45 PM bus. 

 

27. Would the mileage increase due to more runs affect the insurance cost for buses?

Mileage is not tracked by our insurance company and doesn’t impact premiums.

 

28. When buses are said to be currently “packed” how many per seat does this mean? 

Currently there are three elementary students per seat and a maximum of two middle and high school students per seat due to size .

 

29. What time will athletic practices start?

Athletic practices and start time will vary depending on the coach.  If it happens that a coach is a teacher, the delay of start time will be minimal.  Our hope is to have the Asst. Coach start practice until other coaches arrive.  If not, we are looking to institute either a study hall or some sort of strength and conditioning program until practice can officially get underway.

 

30. Has the district looked at how it was before the move to a one bus run in the afternoon?

The district has been made aware of the concerns from the prior two bus runs and have been working on how to make the change back better and more effective than it was prior to 2019. For example, one concern was that not all the buses were arriving at BES at the same time and this added challenges in terms of dismissal. Our intent is to have all the buses lined up at the same time for dismissal at BES if we go back to the two bus runs in the afternoon.

 

31. Why will there not be a late bus at Berlin Middle High School every day of the week?  

There WILL be a late late bus every day of the week for students at BMHS, at 4:45 PM.  There will be a 3:15 PM bus run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for students to receive academic support and participate in extracurricular clubs.  The reason there will not be a 3:15 PM bus on Wednesdays is due to all staff being involved in professional learning time or building level committee work after school each Wednesday of the month. 

 

32. How will this affect aligning with the New Lebanon schedule, so Berlin student-athletes don’t miss practice time?

Since the end times are somewhat identical, practices can begin earlier which can lead to more practice time and/or study hall, strength and conditioning.  Practices will start  once the shuttle bus arrives from its respective school.

 

33. Will this mean elementary, middle and high school students will no longer be together on afternoon runs? 

That is correct with the exception of any after school or CTE BMHS students who are on the 3:15 PM late bus, and any late runs needed for both BMHS and BES students at 4:45 PM due to after school programming and enrichment.

 

34. Is there a maximum capacity for each bus? 

The bus capacity is 66 children (BES) or 44 adults (BMHS). 

 

35. Does every bus have an attendant? 

For the 2022-2023 school year there was an attendant on every bus. Our intentions are to do the same for the 2023-2024 school year. 

 

36. Will there be an issue with the three minutes at the end of the school day for students to load the bus at BMHS?

BMHS students will be permitted to take their belongings with them to 9th period in order to keep dismissal streamlined.  

 

37. Is there any reason to anticipate that the 20-minute earlier start will influence attendance?

There would be a settling in time period at the beginning of the school year when students from BMHS would have to get adjusted to the 20 minute earlier start time for their pickup, but we anticipate that they will settle into the routine as the school year progresses as we have seen with past adjustments.

 

38. What time would elementary school dismissal be for student pickup?

Students will be dismissed from classes at 3:20 PM for parent/guardian pickup and also load onto the afternoon buses. The buses will depart from BES at 3:30 PM.

 

39. Could the district look into a grab and go type meal and/or snack for BNL away games?

This is a great suggestion. We do not have that in place currently, but we will definitely look into it for the coming school year. The details are important so that is something we will have to work through.

 

 

If you have any more questions, please feel free to email them to Superintendent Joseph Dhara at jdhara@berlincentral.org.