Schools
New Bus Company, New School Start Times
Huckleberry Hill Students Start Earlier Next Year as the District Moves to a 3-Tier System
Brookfield schools will transition this summer from the current transportation company, First Student, to All-Star Transportation and make the jump from a four-tier staggered start system to a three-tier system.
The district's transportation services operation went out to bid in January and was won by All-Star Transportation, following evaluation and approval by the Board of Education in April. The change will save the district $352,000 over the next five years.
All-Star Transportation will provide a new fleet of buses that are compliant with recent environmental regulations, are seat belt ready and equipped with video camera and GPS devices.
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The current four-tier configuration has Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES) students getting on the bus as late as 8:45 a.m. and some returning home after dark during the winter months. The schedule often prevents students from participating after school activities and poses problems for working parents in the morning. The change will have HHES students boarding buses between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. and will return most students home by 4:00 p.m.
"The longest ride for any student is anticipated to be 35 to 40 minutes," according to an announcement today by the district's Director of Business and Technology Art Colley. Buses will also run close to full capacity in order to manage the three-tier system effectively. Currently, many buses run half full.
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A source at First Student, the current bus company, voiced concerns about how the transition to All-Star will impact drivers and said that it is rumored that "half of the [current] drivers will be replaced."
"We need all the drivers," Colley assured, who said that the district will continue to use the same number of buses and vans. The savings for the district are not coming from eliminating jobs. Although they would like to see the current drivers remain through the transition, Colley said, "the hiring decisions are ultimately up to All-Star."
The same source said that drivers feared that All-Star's management would try to "get rid of the union. Look at what happened in New Milford."
Following a driver strike in May 2007, drivers at All-Star in New Milford voted in a decertification vote to put the union out. All-Star's contract was recently renewed in New Milford and runs through 2014.
Brookfield's bus driver union representatives declined to comment at this time.
There will be no major changes for Brookfield High School (BHS), Whisconier Middle School (WMS) or the Academy of International Studies. Center Elementary School (CES) students will ride in a combined run with St. Joseph's School and Christian Life Academy. HHES students will be picked up separately.
Start times will be as follows: BHS start 7:15 a.m., dismissal 2:00 p.m.; WMS start 7:55 a.m., dismissal 2:40 p.m.; CES and HHES start 8:40 a.m., dismissal 3:25 p.m.
