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Buses Gain 5 Minutes

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By MARILYN BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 6, 2007

TAMPA - An e-mail by district officials to school board members Friday laid out a series of possible solutions to the chronic problem of tardy buses delivering students late to south Hillsborough County schools.

It was notable for what it didn't suggest: moving back starting times for middle schools. That won't happen.

Instead, in the short term, the district will allow high school students to enter schools at 6:55 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., freeing those buses to begin another route five minutes earlier.

In addition, breakfast lines in middle schools may be accelerated and middle schools will be encouraged to schedule homeroom at the beginning of the day so late students are not missing out on class time.

The district also will seek input from bus drivers on how to make their routes more efficient.

The plan's short-term solutions were derided Friday by the union representing teachers.

'It's a joke,' said Luis Perez, head of the Hillsborough School Employees Federation.

The solutions were offered to blunt criticism from parents who say their children are arriving so late to school they are missing part or all of the morning periods.
District officials said they hope the changes will help fix a problem that has defied a solution for years.

Letting students who do arrive before 7 a.m. into the school five minutes early should help to get the buses back on the road that much quicker, said Sherrie Sikes, the district's director in the south county area.

As for breakfast, all principals in the south county area were sent a memo Friday with suggestions already used in many schools to get the district's free breakfast to students quickly, said Mary Kate Harrison, general manager for student nutrition services.

Those include preparing a 'grab 'n go' breakfast in a plastic bag, putting all lunchroom personnel on duty to serve breakfast and having mobile carts with the breakfasts ready to hand to students as they arrive.

Responding to complaints from parents about late buses, board members last week told Superintendent MaryEllen Elia to fix the problem, even if it meant opening middle schools later in the mornings to make sure all the students have arrived.

They voted to give her the authority to make the starting time later. But there was no mention in the memo of doing that.

Opening and closing times in south Hillsborough schools won't be changed, nor will bus stop locations be changed. But within weeks some parents may be notified of new pick-up times, said John Franklin, the district's transportation chief.

Reviewing routes and having drivers test and validate them before they are used is what drivers have said will fix the problem of chronically late buses, but they said they have never been asked for their input.

A pilot program put into effect in August in south Hillsborough was supposed to make the transportation system more efficient and call for fewer drivers, a big plus because the district has been short of drivers for years. The plan requires many students to walk farther to bus stops.

But instead of eliminating late buses, more students are getting to school later than before the efficiency methods started.

'They have more drivers this year than last and more problems,' Perez said.

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

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