Transportation Update

Dear Families,

The start of this school year brought many new changes to the district. A new school, new start times and ten new bus drivers and buses. These changes created the need for the district to reconfigure bus routes for many of its students. The district could no longer follow the template that it had used in past years. As a result, new routes were created. Our software matches the number of bus drivers with the number of students to transport.

At the start of every school year, it usually takes a week or so to get the bus routes worked out and running on time. Sometimes it is just a matter of the new drivers learning the roads and identifying the houses and bus stops for the buses to run on time. Road construction is also creating a challenge. There are some instances where the routes must be changed or split. We try to evaluate the route over a week or two before any decisions are made to modify them.

We ask for your understanding during the first few days of school. Buses will often run late and in a few instances may miss a bus stop. Each day there is improvement. We encourage families to access the bus route information on our web site to ensure your student knows or has written down his or her bus number as posted there.

Tuesday, we saw long delays that were not typical even for a first day. We apologize for these delays and are working hard to resolve them. Today, we saw many of the delays reduced or eliminated and the dismissal went much smoother.

The Transportation Department has struggled to keep up with the volume of emails and calls and, in response, we have reassigned staff to help get back to families and answer questions.

There is always a window at the start of each year where the bus drivers are getting to know the routes and students. This takes time. With the new routes and the road construction throughout the district, we may be in for little more of a bumpy ride than in the past. We pledge to keep doing our best to ensure all of our students are transported safely.

Peace,
Thomas L. Hosler
Superintendent
Perrysburg Schools
419-874-9131 ext. 2103
[email protected]