Vivien Macy

JRN572-Public Affairs

Springfield parents, teachers struggle with new public school bus schedule

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield City School parents must opt in or out of bus services
for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year thanks to a new system set up by the district.

The Springfield Public School system school board recently approved a three-tiered
transportation system to increase bus eligibility for 3,000 high school students as well as
those students who attend four Choice Magnet Programs. The three tiers include
staggered start and end times for schools within the district. Tier one includes all high
schools and some elementary schools.

Tier one classes will begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. Tier two will include
primarily elementary schools and will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Tier three
will include all middle schools as well as early childhood centers and will begin at 9:30
a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m.

Before the deadline of April 30, 2021, parents must determine if their child is eligible for
bus service based on their home address. They must fill out a google form after using
the provided search tool in the article to determine if their child qualifies for bus
transportation.

The conflict with this new system is the varying effects that it will have on families with
children in the Springfield City School district as well as teachers in the district who have
children at various grade levels.

While the district is making this decision based on their desire to provide transportation
to more students and ultimately save the money, it would cost to provide additional
busses and drivers to accommodate this expansion with schools beginning in the same
time frame, the cost to families both financially and emotionally will be felt district wide.

Families who have chosen jobs based on school start and end times may have to find a
new job based on whether or not they are able to adjust their work schedule. Other
families will be forced to pay child care fees beyond the school day whether it be in the
morning or afternoon. Middle school students in particular with parents who work in the
morning may be left to get ready and get themselves to school whether it be by walking
or the bus and this could result in lower attendance.
Teachers who have children in the school district who have vastly different start and end
times based on their age are indicating they are being forced to look for other jobs
based on the school district’s decision or face higher childcare costs. Ultimately,
families will be impacted as well by the loss of time as a family with the differing times of
the school day for different children in the household.

John Cameron, a special education teacher in Springfield Public School, said he is not
really affected since his child is in middle school. However, he knows some teachers
are having to make major changes.

“I know of at least two teachers in my building who have elementary age students
moving to jobs out of this district based on this decision,” said Cameron.

After the deadline for opting in or out of transportation the district will face further
decisions for the tier system based on the number of students who opt in for bus
transportation and needs determined from the data collected.

As stated in the published document on the Springfield Public Schools website,

individuals opting in after the deadline of April 30, 2021 will not be guaranteed
transportation on the first day of school.

In addition, it states the collection of opt in/opt out data is critical for the planning of
routes for the upcoming school year as well as being crucial in finalizing the start and
end times for each tier.