Finance Committee Approves Staggered Bell Schedule

Following a tense two-and-a-half hour discussion between school directors, administrators and parents, the Centennial Finance Committee approved 2-1 the originally proposed new bell schedule for the elementary schools.

If the schedule passes through the full school board at its meeting tonight at 7 p.m., the following would take effect in September:

• McDonald Elementary starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:15 p.m.
• Willow Dale and Davis Elementary start at 9 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.

Several factors forced the district to analyze the bus routes and come up with a plan that would prevent elementary students from waiting up to 30 minutes after dismissal time for transportation home.

The closing of three neighborhood schools, Leary, Longstreth and Stackpole, means that children that normally walked to school now needed bus service. The location of Willow Dale on a busy road and construction of the new McDonald school has reduced the number of walkers to a bare minimum and added at least 500 more children to the bus loads. 

Also, per the stipulations in the , an additional 30 minutes of instructional time have been added to the school day. Centennial Superintendent Dr. Jenny Cressman said that those 30 minutes would be devoted to teaching core literacy and math skills.

The bus schedule also had to accommodate the dismissal times of and . The state does not require school districts to transport public school students, but if a district chooses to do so, it must also provide bus service to all non-public students in the district.

The approved schedule is the same that the in April, but parent outcry at the April 23 school board meeting convinced the directors to take the issue back to the finance committee.

Monday night, three additional scenarios with simultaneous start and end times were presented that would require either the purchase of additional buses or a third party contractor to supplement the schedule.

Transportation director Wayne Robinson said that adding additional buses would create problems with storing the vehicles securely at the district depot. Business administrator Chris Berdnik also said that finding the funds necessary to either purchase buses or pay a contractor would be difficult without instituting a larger tax raise through the Act 1 exceptions and tapping into the reserve fund.

The cheapest option with simultaneous bell schedules (8:50 a.m.-3:35 p.m.) would cost between approximately $550,000 and $750,000 for five more vehicles and their operational costs, or between $220,000 and $350,000 for a private contractor. Several drivers on this route would be driving double-runs, meaning they would pick up several passengers, drop them off at the school, then go back for more. According to the district, those first arrivals would be at school at least 60 minutes before the first bell and would need additional supervision.

After an hour of debate amongst the school directors and administration, the parents were given an opportunity to weigh in on the issue. Members of the audience, mostly from Willow Dale, re-emphasized the impact the later dismissal times will have on extracrurricular activities and quality time with their children and also vocalized their displeasure with the school board and administration in general.

"It feels like that no matter what we say, you're going to do whatever you want," said Veronica Connelly. "It doesn't seem that anybody cares if parents have to pay for a babysitter they can't afford or if their children have no down time after school."

The motion passed with two yes votes from committee members David Shafter and Charles Kleinschmidt. Shafter, of region 1 in Upper Southampton, recognized that the schedule was not beneficial to Willow Dale parents, but that the lack of representation and communication from parents in regions 1 and 2 meant that the majority were okay with the changes.

Kleinschmidt, from region 3, sympathized with the frustrated parents but ultimately wanted to close the issue and move on to other business in the district.

It's difficult to predict whether the proposal will pass final approval at tonight's school board meeting. Finance Committee chair Michael Hartline voted against the schedule Monday night, while school directors Betty Huf, Jane Schrader Lynch and Mark Miller expressed beliefs that other options are out there, and they just have to find a more workable solution.

"I feel for the community," said Huf. "I'm not there with approving this plan."

Region 2 director Steve Adams threw out a couple ideas that he felt should be explored in more detail, such as a private contractor supplementing the staggered schedule and altering the middle school and high school schedules.

"Maybe if everybody is impacted a little," said Adams, "nobody will be impacted a lot."