Three tier bus schedule affects
Spencerport elementary runs

Like many other school districts in Monroe County, Spencerport Central Schools has gone to a three-tier system of scheduling. This is due to the enrollment being up and continuing to increase, as well as due to the decision to put the sixth grade students into the middle school. That decision to move the sixth graders to the middle school was made by the Facility Planning Committee, which was looking at what would be best for the instruction of the students, according to district officials.

A three-tier system is one in which the buses first transport the high school students, then the middle school students and then the elementary school students. It involves three separate bus runs. Some parents of Spencerport elementary student have expressed concern with the later start and dismissal times for students. Students arrive at elementary schools no earlier than 8:55 a.m. and the school day begins at 9:11 a.m. Dismissal is at 3:40 p.m.

Fred Seiler, Spencerport's Assistant Superintendent for Business, said that if this system was not adopted, if would mean that the six to twelfth grade students would also be arriving at the same time, putting more traffic on the road. It would also mean that more buses would have to be purchased and more drivers hired. Then, many of the drivers would have only two runs, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and most would want more hours than that.

"Most schools made this transition (to the three-tier system) 15 years ago," Seiler says. "This process began (in Spencerport) last September with the Bus Re-Routing Committee. No matter what we did, there were trade-offs. We tried to find the best solution for our kids." He said if the high school students were transported later, that they would be unable to participate in the sports programs. He also said that there were parents on the re-routing committee that worked for this solution.

"We tried to get bus passes (schedules) out early in August, so parents could plan," he says. "We also tried to look to see if we could get options for before and after school child care." He says that the Gates YMCA has a program at Munn; Spencerport Early Learning Center has one at Taylor; and Kiddie Kollege has such a program and is convenient to Canal View and Bernabi schools.