Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After a unanimous vote by the Buffalo School Board on Wednesday night, Buffalo Public Schools will be moving to a new bell schedule in September, at the start of the next school year.
The move has been discussed for months as a way to solve the bus driver shortage.
"For elementary schools, it's proposed that schools start at 7:30 a.m., 8:20 a.m. and 9:10 a.m.. High schools will start at 7:40 a.m. and 8:25 a.m.," said School Board member Larry Scott on WBEN.
Scott admits he was skeptical when it was first introduced. But he saw significant evidence that a shift in start times would make a positive difference.
"For one, we learned that the average ride time for urban students around the nation is 15 to 20 minutes. Here in Buffalo over the past school year, it's been 40 minutes. We were told with the new bell system, it could be cut in half to about 20 minutes. That's significant," added Scott.
This plan will also restore transportation for after-school programming and enhance transportation for athletics.
Scott said there is not another issue that the board has spent more time on, this year, than transportation.
The schedule has been tweaked multiple times. Initially, there was a 9:30am start time. That has been eliminated, after feedback from teachers and parents.
"I know this is going to be an inconvenience for many. It's going to be an adjustment for families and staff. I personally will be impacted," said Scott. "My older son will start at 7:30 a.m. and I have a child in another school with a different start time."
The next step is for community meetings to be held in every school before June 1 to explain the changes. Buffalo teachers agreed to the changes when they ratified a new contract last month.
As for the bus driver shortage, Scott said they are still in need of drivers.
"In 2019, we had 631 bus drivers. Now, we're at 464 drivers, which is far below the number we had in 2019. We need to continue to maintain the drivers we have and recruit more."
