Middle school enrollment questions

Transportation FAQs

This section contains questions from families specifically related to transportation.

Of the eight proposals for the middle feeder realignment, a majority have students being transported across the district to a middle school that is far from where they live. Transporting students across the district when there are two middle schools within 1.5 miles from their home seems off the mark. Instead, focus could and should be on making our schools equitable for every student by fixing what is broken in each middle school. How will we ensure reliable transportation for ALL children, especially the sixth-graders (some of which will still be 10 in September)? The current CDTA buses are not reliable nor COVID-19 safe (packing enough students for two buses onto one bus because the drivers aren't trained to drive a double bus). Will ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú invest in yellow busing so that we can feel confident that our children will make it safely to their school that is a 45-minute ride across ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú?

How much will this increase in transportation cost? The district? The taxpayers?

Currently I live within 1.5 miles of two middle schools. Why would my child have to be bused to a third school that is the school farthest away? How long would this expected bus ride be with how many stops?

What about after-school programming and possible transportation?

A majority of the proposals have students being transported across the district very far from where they live. How can we ensure there is reliable transportation for all students? The CDTA buses are often unreliable with being on time and would not have ample space for all the kids. In addition, that could be a lot for some younger (10 years old for sixth-graders) to manage.

Thank you to the Board of Education and Feeder Alignment Committee members for all your hard work! We have four children currently enrolled in ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú schools and have happily been a ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú family for the last 10 years. We have some questions about the plans for a more equitable feeder pattern. The proposed changes would affect our students at New Scotland Elementary School

Five out of the eight scenarios feed New Scotland students to North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú and our main concern is transportation.

We live about seven miles away from North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú and, with driver shortages, we do not feel confident that there will be a reliable daily way to get to and from North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú. If kids miss the tripper, there is not another CDTA bus available that would get you close to North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú, and driving both ways with three other kids' drop-off and pick-up times becomes untenable. It takes our current Hackett student 45 minutes to get home (a distance of about 1.5 miles) because CDTA is short drivers and buses and the route goes in a loop around downtown ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú.

CDTA has said they have no plans to provide the previously available route (a tripper that drops off kids on the same route as the regular #13, which would be a huge help to New Scotland families with siblings), and they also cannot adjust the regular bus schedule to have a bus arrive closer to Hackett dismissal time of 3 p.m. Walking and waiting at a regular non-tripper bus stop and walking all the way home are other options in this scenario, but this would not be the case from North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú.

How long of a bus ride is it from New Scotland to North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Middle School?

I would like to learn more about the transportation plan associated with these plans. Several proposals require students who live in western ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú to get to North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú on a daily basis. Will this be done through CDTA or First Student busing routes? Will the heavy reliance on busing and the non-central location of North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú make it challenging for these students to participate in school activities before and after school?

When looking at transportation data, did you take into account the distance children from the farthest points would need to travel and time the bus would take during heavy traffic times of the day? A child who currently lives near a school could see their travel time greatly increased if moved to a school across the city.

If you keep all kids within the 1.5 mile-radius there would be no need for busing so many students! I cannot send my kid to a school so far from home without having a plan for transport, so I just want a choice of either school that is within the 1.5 miles so none of my kids ever have had a bus.

How do you expect the bus driver shortage will be fixed by the fall? It will take more buses to change the feeders next year, yet the buses can’t manage this year as it is.

Your analysis of the transportation impacts cuts off at 1.5 miles. Several of these scenarios will require many students to travel distances in excess of five miles. Have you determined how many additional students will have such very long commutes as a result of these scenarios?

The bus situation is terrible this year, and I'm tired of the COVID-19 answer. Even the tripper buses come late and don't follow a schedule. My ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú High School kid's bus didn't come until 8:15 a.m. today, that's 15-25 minutes later than it’s scheduled (and I say 15-25 minutes because it hasn't come at the same time every day). It's a bus, which is supposed to follow a schedule. Now if my kid has to go clear across town to get to North ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Middle School, how can I depend on CDTA to get him and other kids to school on time?

Right now buses are overcrowded and unsafe. In order for parents to feel safe putting students on long bus rides, you need more buses so that they are not overcrowded, and you absolutely must put monitors on middle school buses to prevent bullying.

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