C-C discusses proposed staggered school start times

As a way to increase efficiencies of the transportation system and to better fill the school buses, Churchville-Chili school officials proposed the idea of staggering the start and stop times of the elementary school.

At a public hearing on June 22, eight parents talked to the board about concerns regarding the proposed changes. In a letter to the editor in the June 20 edition of Suburban News and the Herald, parent Sherri Catalano questioned how the delayed start times of the school will impact families with children in the district. "With this delay, I feel it will be putting an unnecessary burden and additional expense on our households," she wrote. "I am also not certain that there are a sufficient amount of daycare providers available in the area to accommodate the number of children that will need before and after school care."

Churchville-Chili Superintendent of Schools Annemarie Spadafora reminded parents that the goal of studying the transportation system was to increase the efficiency of the operation. "We have not been able to provide enough turn around time at the intermediate school particularly making, as stated by one of our parents, our buses 15 minutes late perennially," she said. "The time change will alleviate this situation."

The moves will also create a reduced transportation budget that could result in the district providing smaller class sizes, reading recovery classes and all of the programs that the children have enjoyed in the past, she said. The change in school starting times was done in an effort to address financial concerns within the district by ensuring more efficient routing and fuller buses, Spadafora said.

Spadafora said that while the time of a particular school may have changed by 15-20 minutes, the bus pick-up time may be earlier, later or remain the same. "I certainly share the concerns of parents on wanting to know when the bus will be there," she said. "Letters will go out to parents sometime in August."

The question of group stops came up at the meeting and Spadafora said if families agree to a group stop, they were urged to call Linda Hafner at the school district to discuss the idea of a group pick up. "We will be happy to adjust scheduling to accommodate a group stop," she said, adding that the district can not impose group stops.

Following the meeting, Spadafora said a parent did show an interest in the idea of on-site childcare. "If we could find a childcare provider who would be willing to provide services on site on a contract basis we would entertain that idea," she said.

Parents are invited to contact the district at 293-1800 with any questions and concerns.