Buses at Bayless in Time for Back to School

Happy First Day of School, Bayless! Here's a note from Bayless Director of Communications Michael Hawkins about the new bus schedule:

First Student Buses lined the front drive last Friday to simulate the loading and unloading of students.  While these “dry runs” are an annual routine for many school districts, Bayless has not seen a “dry run”, or any run, in the past two years as student transportation was cut because of budget concerns.  But thanks to the , and careful negotiating on the part of Superintendent Ron Tucker, , and at a service level not seen in the district in many years.

“We are proud to offer transportation to any student who wants to ride the bus,” said Superintendent Ron Tucker.  “The Board recognized that our voters stepped up and passed Prop. B, so they wanted to provide as much transportation service as we could afford.  We worked hard in our discussions with First Student and were happy to restore transportation on an expanded basis, but at a better price.”    There are early indications that parents like the District’s approach.

Kelly Kipper, president of the Bayless parent organization, BEST, is among those who approve.  “Bringing back buses is awesome.  It is one of the first tangible benefits that we will see due to the support of our community and passage of Prop B.”

Others echoed her sentiments at Bayless Elementary’s Open House last Thursday.  Aaron Kohler, incoming principal at Bayless Elementary, sensed the excitement and what it means to the families.  Kohler observed, “At Meet the Teacher Night, many parents commented to us about how happy they were with buses returning to Bayless.  They are looking forward to putting their children on the bus for the first day of school.”  Beyond the benefits to riders themselves, Bayless officials expect benefits to the community as well.

When Bayless cut student transportation two years ago, it also changed its school starting times to 8 AM.  This change meant traffic snarles and frayed nerves at drop-off and dismissal times.  “We looked at our start times and have returned to our traditional 7:30 AM for our High School and Middle School and 8:15 AM for our Elementary because it keeps traffic from concentrating at our campus during one peak time.  Coupled with fewer cars because of buses, we expect that residents will see much less congestion on Weber Road when school is in session.”

With any change, unforeseen difficulties will arise, and district officials say bringing back buses is no different.  Tucker said that he wants the parents, students and residents of Bayless, and all of his employees, to always think about what can be accomplished, instead of thinking of why things won’t work.  “Sure we expect some issues here and there,” said Tucker, “but bringing buses back was key to the continued success of our schools and a benefit to our community.  We will resolve any issues as they arise and certainly not let them get in our way.  We owe that to our parents, our student and our community.”  Bayless has posted its bus stops and times on its website, www.baylessk12.org.

Bus schedules are also attached as PDFs in this article under the photos of school buses.