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Bus run changes still being planned
by STEPHANIE M
May 31, 2010
On Monday, May 10, The Board of Education authorized the administration to continue planning the Draft Plan for bus run changes for Dexter schools. They may make final decision as early as May 24. The board has concluded five meetings where they discussed their plan to save money.
The plan would be to have a single bus run. Nothing is approved so far, but it’s presently part of the board's Draft Plan. If there was only one bus run, Mill Creek would start at or around eight in the morning. This is about a half hour later than school normally starts.
Not every Dexter student likes this idea. Jamie M, freshman at DHS, says, "I don't think that it's a good idea to have school start later because kids with after school sports would get home later and have less time to get homework done."
Some students, however, like the idea of school starting later. Crystal K, 7th grader at Mill Creek, says, “It would give me more sleeping time in the morning, but less free time after school.”
Another idea is to have hub bus stops. This would mean that buses would not enter any subdivision. Bus riders would be required to walk or get a ride to a main stop outside of their neighborhoods. By reducing the number of times that the bus needs to stop to load or unload students, this should reduce students’ ride times.
The Board of Education also proposed that there would be a no transport zone, mostly in the Village of Dexter. Unless there is no safe path for them to walk, no student in grades K through 12 would be allowed to ride the bus if they live within one and one-half miles from the school. Again, nothing is final yet.
Not many Mill Creek students would be impacted by many parts of this plan. Ms. Bronson, Mill Creek Principal, says, “From a student perspective, there wouldn’t be much difference in the way the buses worked. You wouldn’t notice anything except you might have to walk a little farther or younger kids would be on your bus. Plus the school times would change a little bit.”
The Board of Education isn’t planning these changes for no reason. Each part of the plan will save the district money, which will benefit the community and our school. The extra money saved on gas and other things could be used to make our schools better. If the single run, hub bus stops, and no transport zone are all approved, the savings could equal about $380,000.
The possibility of having a single bus run is one of the things that students care about most. It would definitely be new for students to have kindergardeners on our buses, but the school board has a plan. If there is only one run, they will ensure that all students will be separated by age while on the bus.
Not everyone cares about this part of the plan, however. Jamie says, "I wouldn't mind too much if little kids were on our bus. It wouldn't make much of a difference to me."
The Board of Education is still in planning about bus run changes.
by STEPHANIE M
May 31, 2010
On Monday, May 10, The Board of Education authorized the administration to continue planning the Draft Plan for bus run changes for Dexter schools. They may make final decision as early as May 24. The board has concluded five meetings where they discussed their plan to save money.
The plan would be to have a single bus run. Nothing is approved so far, but it’s presently part of the board's Draft Plan. If there was only one bus run, Mill Creek would start at or around eight in the morning. This is about a half hour later than school normally starts.
Not every Dexter student likes this idea. Jamie M, freshman at DHS, says, "I don't think that it's a good idea to have school start later because kids with after school sports would get home later and have less time to get homework done."
Some students, however, like the idea of school starting later. Crystal K, 7th grader at Mill Creek, says, “It would give me more sleeping time in the morning, but less free time after school.”
Another idea is to have hub bus stops. This would mean that buses would not enter any subdivision. Bus riders would be required to walk or get a ride to a main stop outside of their neighborhoods. By reducing the number of times that the bus needs to stop to load or unload students, this should reduce students’ ride times.
The Board of Education also proposed that there would be a no transport zone, mostly in the Village of Dexter. Unless there is no safe path for them to walk, no student in grades K through 12 would be allowed to ride the bus if they live within one and one-half miles from the school. Again, nothing is final yet.
Not many Mill Creek students would be impacted by many parts of this plan. Ms. Bronson, Mill Creek Principal, says, “From a student perspective, there wouldn’t be much difference in the way the buses worked. You wouldn’t notice anything except you might have to walk a little farther or younger kids would be on your bus. Plus the school times would change a little bit.”
The Board of Education isn’t planning these changes for no reason. Each part of the plan will save the district money, which will benefit the community and our school. The extra money saved on gas and other things could be used to make our schools better. If the single run, hub bus stops, and no transport zone are all approved, the savings could equal about $380,000.
The possibility of having a single bus run is one of the things that students care about most. It would definitely be new for students to have kindergardeners on our buses, but the school board has a plan. If there is only one run, they will ensure that all students will be separated by age while on the bus.
Not everyone cares about this part of the plan, however. Jamie says, "I wouldn't mind too much if little kids were on our bus. It wouldn't make much of a difference to me."
The Board of Education is still in planning about bus run changes.
