“The week of Dec. 16 will be similar to the start of school where it may take a few days to work out the bugs and make adjustments to the routes,” said Don Burley, Director of Operations for the district.
The district cut door-to-door service and moved to group stops at the beginning of this school year after voters rejected a 1 percent additional earned income tax levy for the fourth straight time in May. The district also made staff cuts and added fees for some courses. The levy would have generated $2 million for the schools, according to the district.
The district announced in October it would restore busing for high school students in January following complaints from parents. District officials said then they had through, “reprioritized spending, innovative human resource practices and difficult reductions to services,” experienced some savings.
The district also said in October it would benefit from new funding for schools from the ”Student Wellness and Success Funding” in the state budget passed in July.
“When released, these dollars will also ease some of the burden on Graham’s operating budget by expanding and supporting existing behavior, social/emotional and health care services such as guidance and nursing,” the district said.
RELATED: Graham changing high school busing plans
The school’s targeted implementation date for the new busing plan was previously set for Jan. 6, but Burley said the school wanted to start the plan sooner.
“Once the Board of Education made the decision to reinstate door-to-door rural high school busing, we went to work with the goal to activate the plan as soon as possible,” he said. “I commend our transportation staff for their collaboration and hard work to make adjustments mid-year to offer this critical service to our families earlier than expected.”
RELATED: Graham Local reverses decision on high school busing
Due to the adjustments being made to high school and middle school busing to add new stops and riders, students will have a different bus schedule.
“We thank everyone for their patience as we make these changes across the district,” Burley said. “The priorities for our department are the safety of all students and the swift reinstatement of high school busing to a door-to-door model in our rural areas.”
13: Number of bus drivers currently at Graham High School
3: Number of bus aides/van drivers currently at Graham High School
571: Number of students at Graham High School
The Springfield News-Sun has provided continued coverage of Graham Local Schools levy decisions and changes over the past few months.
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