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Home My WebLink About2012-11-01-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee November 1, 2012 at 9am Conference Room, Central Administration Blg Meeting Minutes 1 Attending Judy Crocker, Elaine Dratch (TAC), MaryEllen Dunn (Asst Superintendent),Sharon Kendall, Craig Weeks Guest Bonnie Brown 2. October meeting minutes were accepted as amended. 3 School Bus Registration Update Total enrollment figures as of October 24thwere reviewed These included School Bus Ridership FY13 vs FY12 FY13 FY12 Change Total Ridership 41% 31% +10% Range of Ridership 26%-64% 18%-58% # Buses 24 18 +6 Avg Bus Capacity 82% 57% +25% (85%ES,82%MS,79%HS) (65%ES,68%MS,37%HS) # Routes 59 44 +15 #Students 2641 2061 +580 Waitlist 15 NA +15 # Late Registrations 370 NA +370 Flexpass 255 133 +122 ES After-school 180 NA +180 Destinations Ms Dunn pointed out that the projected budget included 18 buses Town Meeting funding received through the Article 17 School Bus Subsidy was used to balance the increase to 24 buses Of the 24 buses, 5 are used for two tiers instead of three The most inefficient tier is LHS with approximately 300 unused seats However, there are fewer buses running two-tiers that FY12. FY13 saw an increase in the number of families eligible for the Family Cap while requests for financial waivers saw no change. There was also an increase in Eligible for Town Paid riders The end result is that 60% of the ridership paid full price and 40% received a discount or were free The Flexpass program saw an increase of 122 riders Ms Dratch of the Transportation Advisory Board (TAC) reported that the journal entry of the $50 Flexpass fee received by Lexpress will be recorded in Feb/March Seats continue to be sold. Ms. Cell is working with the town's Transportation Office to orchestrate the money transfer from LPS It is estimated to be approximately$12,000 As of October 24, outstanding parent fee funds yet to be collected equal $22,000, which is lower than previous years at this date Monies from Article 17 will be returned to the Town and are estimated to be $50,000-75,000 For FY13, principal obstacles identified for increasing school bus ridership include the LHS X-Block(voluntary Wednesday first morning class) and the elementary extended day program. The FY12 Article 4 Estabrook school bus subsidy will be part of the FY13 LPS budget Questions of how many riders will the current program keep moving forward into FY14 and how to best budget the program was discussed The FY13 total program expense is$1 8 million less parent fees for $1 1 million, and FY14 will need to include SPED pressures with 6 open contracts The discussion included roles of the SC, BoS, and the community 2012 Town Meeting members were vocal in stating that they felt that school transportation should fall in the LPS budget The SC balances educational choices and the pressure points such involves The SC has stated that its philosophy prioritizes a teacher over a bus The question of how to take the pressure away from the SC and LPS with its finite resources must be addressed.What would LPS be willing to trade? The SC recognizes transportation as a line item expense whose cost, moving forward, is wholly within the LPS budget The policy and political question is how to best finance school transportation. The present increase in ridership has had a positive impact on the community and the current rider base should be maintained and further cultured. The elementary after-school bus has filled a need within the community However, it cannot be financially sustained without additional income The suggestion of offering the service for a $50 fee to make it equitable with the Flexpass service was discussed. Another problem with the service is that some after-school programs begin too close to school dismissal For example, 275 students attend the Russian School of Math that begins at 3:30pm. The Recreation Dept is not participating. The service appears to be most efficient when students participate 3 days out-of-five The service operates during the unstructured part of the student's day with limited supervision. The primary parent complaint is that the students need to have time for an after-school snack However,there is no time upon being dismissed from school, on the bus, or upon arriving at their destination Also, there is a staff cost for this bus operation A winter meeting of the non-profits involved in the program will be planned to discuss these issues and how to best reach a value-based partnership How best to integrate the school bus as a 21st century mass transit model needs to be affirmed with LPS and the SC The MAPC/MAGIC study of alternative mass transit regional models was questioned if it could be an applicable opportunity to Lexington The specifics of the program will be forwarded to the Committee for future discussion. The SC is required to transport students to and from home and school LPS is entering new territory in expanding its scope The idea of LPS partnering with the Town Transportation Office would involve separating cost and staffing. It is not a taxi service but instead a service by C&W similar to the MBTA. If the community endorses the premise,then it could be run thru a subcontract and be a separate entity under the SC and Town An alternative is to offer an RFP for all vendors. Coordination will be needed between administration and those providing the service Conversations will need to be had between SC, BoS, and the community in order to determine how to maintain this successful program Middle school routes appear to be the balancing fulcrum on this transportation scale as they drive the flexibility of the tiered bus system 4-5 additional buses could be added to increase the efficiency of the MS routes The present MS dedicated bus lanes are proving inadequate for the current number of buses Therefore, designs for a new bus loop at Clarke between Facilities and Ms Dunn is ongoing and accommodations will also have to be made at Diamond on the Sedge Rd entrance Also,the ES tier benefit from focusing on the MS tier Other untapped opportunities include one-way service 4. C&W Informational Field Trip - Comments Comments were very positive from the 3 BoS (Mr Cohen, Kelly, and Manz) and 2 SC (Ms Coppe and Steigerwald) members who took part in the school bus ride-alongs 'Wow, I had no idea..."was a comment often heard by the bus drivers. The riders were impressed with how well the drivers knew their students,their routes, as well as common problem areas on their drives Others found the number of parents in the school traffic shocking as well as how many of these parents arrived to school late One BoS member was shocked to see four cars drive thru the bus' active flashing lights Mr Manz will feature his experience in a future Colonial Times article. The Committee was disappointed that the Superintendent and principals did not participate and felt that there lack of interest underscored that school transportation is not a priority 5 Spring Town Meeting-possible articles Captain Ferro is researching how neighboring communities enforce school property roadway rules. Ms. Crocker will meet with BoS Mr. Cohen to discuss how to place the concept of a town by-law allowing police to properly enforce and penalize those who fail to follow posted traffic rules on school property After communicating with Mr Valenti, Captain Ferro, and others, Marc Valenti of DPW will be spearheading the school zone signage improvements and their costs 6 Operation Yellow Blitz 2012 Lexington had the distinction of hosting one of the Operation Yellow Blitz sites in MA This involves state police monitoring certain sites for drivers who may pass illegally pass through school bus flashing lights One citation was issued This was unfortunate for school bus drivers report many more on a regular basis. 7 STS School Improvement Plan Goals Tabled until a future date. 8 New Business Mr. Weeks and Ms. Crocker will invite Ms. Mauger (BoS) and Ms. Coppe (SC) for an informal discussion on how best to move forward with school transportation for FY14, focusing on financing, maintaining, and building upon current improvements Our next meeting will be January 3, 2013 at 9am in the lower Conference Room at Central Administration Respectively submitted, Judy Crocker