Busing changes in C.B.S. a cost saving measure, says school board
Changes will be made to school opening and closing times to accommodate new schedule
Three schools in Conception Bay South will have changes made to the time classes start and finish, to help save money on busing.
The changes will take place in September, affecting Topsail Elementary, Villanova Junior High and Holy Spirit High.
We'd like to focus on our core, which is teaching and learning in the classroom.- Tony Stack
"We're paying an ever increasing amount of money for our busing and we'd like to focus on our core, which is teaching and learning in the classroom," said Tony Stack, Assistant Director of Education with the English School District.
Classes will begin at 8 a.m. at Villanova Junior High and at 8:20 at Topsail Elementary, 35 minutes earlier than they start now.
Holy Spirit High School will have a start time of 9:05 a.m., which Stack said is 50 minutes later than now.
Efficiencies Needed
Stack said around $50 million dollars are spent in Newfoundland and Labrador each year on busing.
This year, the province has around 400 bus routes and roughly 65 tenders up for renewal.
The cost of replacing buses has also gone up, he said, from about $25,000 in 2006 to around $100,000 in 2016, and efficiencies were needed.
One solution was adding bus routes for drivers. Once a driver completes Run A, they would be asked to do Run B.
"We find that when you double up a run, we're paying the same for a single run ... so if we can use less buses, we can accrue some savings," Stack told CBC's St. John's Morning Show on Wednesday.
This meant staggering start times for classes at the affected schools.
"There has to be a spread in order for that turnaround to happen," said Stack.
Routine changes
Stack said the school district consulted with school principals and councils to come up with the best solution and notified people early.
"We'll take some feedback. Obviously when you implement changes like this there's going to be some people that are advantaged and some people that have to adapt," he said.
"We're very conscious that this has a huge impact on families ... their daily routines are obviously impacted when you make changes like this so that's one of the reasons we wanted to get this out early."
He added that some parents have said an early morning drop-off works well, allowing them to get on with their day, but on the other hand, the high school students will no longer be available to look after the younger kids in the afternoon with their later start time.
Biological rhythm
While research has shown that learning is affected by fatigue, Stack told CBC this information is taken into account.
He said that some research states children in their late teens thrive with a later start to their day, while an early rise has little or no effect on younger children.
"They're up early, they adapt, they get on with their day," he said.
"You've also got the issue of congestion along Route 60 [where the junior and senior high are located side-by-side]," said Stack. "By having them open an hour apart you hopefully alleviate some of that congestion."
More to come
Stack said the process began long before the provincial government asked departments and agencies to find cost savings.
"We were aware that 2016 was a big year for renewals of contracts so we were lining up our ducks on this for a little while," said Stack.
According to Stack, school systems across the province, mostly in the eastern region, are being reviewed.
He said areas where busing is not contracted out, such as Corner Brook, are also under review.
with files from the St. John's Morning Show