School Board Briefing

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School Board Briefing

• June 7, 2005

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Key Instructional Changes For SY 05 06

• Hidenwood Carver with modified extended day
  schedule
• Consolidated ESOL
• Add another Early Childhood Center
• Students with special needs increase
• PEEP
• Autism
• Homeless

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Question

• How do we add new initiatives without breaking
  the bank?

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Impact on Transportation

• These new initiatives, without implementing a new
  routing solution, would have required
• 30 additional buses bus drivers
• 6 additional bus attendants
• 1 mechanic
• 1 supervisor

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TransportationRouting Assumptions

• Carver, Hidenwood extended day on C/D
  schedule
• ECCs on 3 tiers
• MECC on A
• LHECC/WECC on B
• DECC/Watkins ECC on C
• Magruder Primary moves to A w/ MECC
• ESOL consolidation _at_ Sedgefield
• BTW reopening on C schedule

(February 22, 2005)
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Adjusted Transportation Routing Assumptions

• Hidenwood moved from C to B
• Modified extended day
• Sedgefield from B to C with ESOL

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Solution
Adjusted proposal to accommodate concerns
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Questions?
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End of Briefing
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Student P/U D/O
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Current Bell Times for Magruder Primary and ECC
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Initial proposal
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Why Not WatECC on the A schedule?

• Essentially we would not be changing the current
  structure
• Keep 16 buses plus add two more (18)
• Not efficient
• A cycle in the center of the city adds dead
  head time and miles
• Not effective use of bus attendants
• The current plan reduces the number of buses
  required (14)

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Key Variables

• Time
• Distance
• Load
• Impacts Cost

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Primer
Time is a major constraint PM buses have 18 to 25
minutes to drop off students and arrive at next
school
Ave. 18 - 22 Minutes
Ave. 25 Minutes
PM A Tier
PM B Tier
PM C Tier

• Discipline/Other Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures From Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic
• Kindergarten/ ECC Returns

• Discipline Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures from Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic

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Bus driver absences impact heavily on daily
performance

• Unplanned Accommodations
• Homeless
• New Students/Dropped Students
• Bus Stop Changes
• Child Care Requests

Ave. 18 - 22 Minutes
Ave. 25 Minutes
PM A Tier
PM B Tier
PM C Tier

• Discipline/Other Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures From Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic
• Kindergarten Returns

• Discipline Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures From Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic

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The unique shape of the City of Newport News adds
to the challenge

• Unplanned Accommodations
• Homeless
• New Students
• Bus Stop Changes
• Child Care Requests
• Discipline (split runs)

Impact of Long Magnet Runs Two vs. Three Tiers!
Ave. 25 Minutes
Ave. 18 - 22 Minutes
PM A Tier
PM B Tier
PM C Tier

• Discipline/Other Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures From Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic
• Kindergarten Returns

• Discipline Returns
• Breakdowns
• Crashes
• Field Trips
• Later Departures From Schools
• Shuttles
• Traffic

Academic and athletic field trips required during
peak operating hours
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2nd Proposal

• Adjust School Start Times to Improve Academic
  Performance in SY 06-07

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Review

• The first proposal to create later high school
  start times was presented in July 2003
• This proposal was not embraced because the high
  school bell times were considered to be too late
  in the day (915 400)
• A second option, with earlier high school bell
  times, was proposed during the SY 05-06 budget
  process for implementation in SY 06-07

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2nd Option

• Move
• Elementary to the A
• High School to the B
• Middle School to the C

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Proposed Bell Times 2nd Option
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Reasons to do it

• Meets criteria for academic and transportation
  performance goals
• Reduces operational costs by 200,000
• Saves 630,000 in CIP Costs
• Supports Wednesday Early Release
• Supports current research for improving academic
  performance and attendance for high school
  students

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Research Supports Later High School Start Times

• Center for Applied Research and Education
  Improvement (CAREI)
• Adolescents (high school students) require more
  sleep than preteens. (more alert later)
• Amount of sleep correlates with academic
  performance and social behavior. (supporting
  later start times for high school.)
• FBI data shows half of violent juvenile crime is
  between 2 PM and 8 PM (reduce unsupervised time)

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Challenges to Changing Bell Times

• Changing bell times could impact
• athletics, activities and regional schools
• after school activities
• part-time work opportunities for high school
  students
• Parents may resist early bus stop times for
  elementary students
• after school day care
• high school student unable to care for siblings
  after school

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2nd Option Lacks Consensus

• Reception mixed during internal presentations
• Concerns expressed were
• elementary attendance
• early time at the bus stop
• faculty staff discontent
• Those moving to the A or B cycle were generally
  pleased
• Those moving to the C schedule were not as
  enthusiastic
• These reactions are to be expected and are in
  line with other school divisions considering
  similar changes

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Lacks Consensus

• Without consensus staff are not comfortable or
  prepared to present the 2nd option to the public
• Recommend that instructional staff do the
  research to determine impact on elementary
  attendance

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END
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Performance Goals

• Reduce operational costs
• Reduce number of buses and drivers required
• (more buses and drivers raise costs)
• Improve on time bus arrival rates
• Increase productive road time (time actually
  spent transporting students)
• Maintain the highest safety standards

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Current Situation

• PM buses have only 23 to 35 minutes to drop off
  students and arrive at next school
• Each bus driving 3 tiers (A, B, C) requires
  effective coordination or domino effect results.
• Tendency is to add buses to correct late arrivals
  (not cost effective)
• EDULOG simulations indicate that 30 -35 buses
  would be required to significantly improve
  timeliness

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Conclusion

• Adoption of the proposal will
• High schools would be in line with research for
  improved student performance and behavior
• Reduces the number of buses and drivers required
• Saves costs in the CIP and annual budget
• Provides a solution that works for Wednesday
  Early Release

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Budget Impact

• EDULOG data indicates proposed bell time changes
  would reduce required bus routes by 10
• Minimum annual operating savings of 200,000 to
  225,000 and estimated CIP savings of 630,000

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Question

• How do we add new initiatives without
  Transportation breaking the bank?
• Since Transportation is stretched to its limit,
  bell time constraints (inability to move schools
  from on schedule to another) had to be removed.
• Several simulations were conducted resulting in
  an increase of 3 or 4 school buses and drivers.

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