Geneva School Board Adjusts School Start Times, Saves $300,000!
May 30, 2009
Could the School District and Board finally be waking up and responding to the complaints of over-taxed Geneva residents? They announced yesterday in the press release reproduced below that they are making very minor changes to school start times this fall that will result in transportation savings of $300,000 per year. These changes have cut the number of Kindergarten bus routes in half from 34 to 17! As I’ve referenced in the comments of a prior post, the District has been running a parade of nearly empty buses through Mill Creek for years. While I certainly applaud the coming changes and the resulting savings, this should simply be the start of on-going efforts to optimize routes and reduce transportation costs. See Bob McQuillan’s comments on this post for more details. The next thing that should be done is to actually put Transportation Services up for competitive bidding, since the District has previously admitted that they have NEVER done this. With our District’s transportation costs significantly higher than those in Batavia and St. Charles, it is unconscionable that this has never been competitively bid. And while we are looking at transportation, let’s not forget to review the need for the new bus facility planned for Keslinger and Brundige Road. With a fleet of new buses, we can’t possibly need this. And we especially don’t need this if transportation services are outsourced to a private firm through a competitive bidding process. So, I say congratulations on a solid first step, but there is still much work to be done to get our transportation costs in line with neighboring districts.
The press release follows below.
Effective August 2009, bus pick up and drop off times and school day schedules will be altered to gain efficiencies in transportation and save money on transportation costs. This plan was approved by the Board of Education this week and is expected to save Geneva School District at least $300,000 in the 2009-10 school year and additional money in future years due to the reduction in bus routes. This change will impact all levels of education in Geneva School District. Bus drop off times at the beginning of the day will be changed: five minutes earlier for elementary and high school students, and five minutes later for middle school students. The actual school day schedules will also be modified: 15 minutes earlier for elementary students (based on the final/tardy bell, which currently rings at 8:15 a.m. at all schools), five minutes earlier for high school students, and five minutes later for middle school students. Bus pick-up times at the end of the day, then, will also change: 15 minutes earlier for elementary students, five minutes earlier for high school students, and five minutes later for middle school students. In addition, kindergarten timing and routing is also being adjusted, making it possible to reduce the number of kindergarten routes from 34 to 17. The new schedules for the 2009-10 school year are as follows: Elementary Drop Off: 7:45 a.m. School Start: 8:00 a.m. School Dismissal: 2:15 p.m. Half-Day Dismissal: 11:20 a.m. Kindergarten AM Session: 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. PM Session: 11:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. Middle School Drop Off: 8:20 a.m. School Start: 8:35 a.m. School Dismissal: 3:24 p.m. Half-Day Dismissal: 12:00 p.m. High School Drop Off: 7:15 a.m. School Start: 7:40 a.m. School Dismissal: 2:45 p.m. Half-Day Dismissal: 11:05 a.m.
