In anticipation of the Charleswood School opening, Superintendent Evan Bishop is seeking input from families and community members about bus schedules and other operational factors.

During Thursday’s School Committee meeting, Bishop noted there have been a lot of internal conversations about the impact of grade reconfigurations with fourth graders moving to Charleswood and sixth graders going to Hopkins starting in the 2027-28 school year.

Bishop explained that construction is ahead of schedule, meaning instead of a January 2028 opening for Charleswood, the district is anticipating the building will be completed by early July 2027 instead.

Opening the new school in the fall of 2027 presents a “huge advantage” in terms of school culture, the superintendent said, although things can change and the building’s progress will be monitored.

“It means our planning needs to accelerate behind the scenes,” Bishop said. “Opening a new building while simultaneously moving two grades around is a pretty massive transition.”

Potential transportation changes outlined

The superintendent noted the transportation structure likely will have to change as these transitions take place.

“We felt it was important to hear directly from our community about what we are doing and what our next steps should be,” Bishop added.

Bishop distributed a survey to staff members Thursday and sent the questionnaire to parents Friday. The survey is available to the general public as well.

Topics on the survey are about transportation, traffic flows, staffing, schedules and daily routines.

He spoke about bus transportation following either a two-tier or three-tier structure.

The first option would involve adding four buses and maintaining the current system. The bus count would increase from 36 to 40 and it would cost $552,000 more. An additional 5.5/6.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) bus drivers would be needed, according to the superintendent.

He emphasized that it is very difficult to find bus drivers.

A three-tier transportation structure would mean an increase of $150,000 and a decrease in the number of buses, going from 36 to 34, according to Susan Rothermich, assistant superintendent of finance and operations.

She said there would be contract increases “no matter what” option is chosen.

If the district changes to three bus runs, it will have to reopen contracts, which run out at the end of 2028.

Rothermich added the transportation contract totals $3.2 million. The budget increase for fiscal year 2027 was $187,000.

Start/end time examples presented

The current bus schedule operates on a two-tier mode. Middle and high school students start school at 7:55 a.m. and finish at 2:25 p.m. Elementary school students begin at 8:55 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m.

Bishop then presented the potential of a three-tiered school schedule/bus run — not a proposal, but an example for discussion purposes. The start times could be 7:45 a.m., 8:25 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. End times would be 2:15 p.m., 2:55 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (A buffer of 40 minutes must be kept for transportation.) Asked which grades would go with which times, Bishop said that was not yet determined, but one possibility would be the middle school and Hopkins with the early start, the high school at 8:25 and kindergarten through fourth grade with the later start. [Editor’s note: These two paragraphs have been updated to add clarity.]

Bishop said there are cost benefits to a three-tier system in terms of lessening student ride times and improving traffic flow. The negatives would involve conflicts with child care, after-school activities and “family logistics.”

Rothermich noted the traffic engineer for the Charleswood project had recommended spreading out school start times in order to ease traffic issues.

High school students may benefit from later start times, the superintendent noted, and there are studies to back that up.

Bishop said that he had served on committees in the past that dealt with changing the school schedule, and “I know the anxiety that goes along with that process.”

He said the topic is being considered now, well in advance of Charleswood School’s anticipated opening, “to avoid surprises down the road.”

The superintendent said he is meeting bi-weekly with central office and transportation personnel as well as the district’s construction partners to discuss schedules.

“We knew it would be a big shakeup, and I can see it is going to be hard in a lot of ways,” said School Committee vice chair Jamie Wronka. “But it’s necessary.”

The survey is open until June 12. Bishop said that would give time to compile the data and return at the June 18 meeting with feedback. Discussion would follow during the summer months with the hope of making a decision by fall of 2026.

“There are a lot of moving parts. This is just one of the first things to accomplish,” he said.

Hearing from the public, both family and community members, is important, said School Committee member Nancy Cavanaugh.

“It’s huge for people to be heard,” Cavanaugh said, “and to come [to meetings], write letters and speak on these [matters].”