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In my 35,000 person city, we’re facing real school budget issues due in parent to shifting population. Our superintendent is a smart guy and has made a number o

In my 35,000 person city, we’re facing real school budget issues due in parent to shifting population. Our superintendent is a smart guy and has made a number of moves to help maintain buildings and services. One of his first moves was to better optimize the bus routes, which was claimed to save $400K / year. Unfortunately the true outcome was that more parents gave in and started driving their kids to school because the bus service is now so crappy.

specialist 5y ago
I just now remember a presentation about how hard it is for public schools to save money. Just one of the many examples was busing. Apparently, staggering schedules is obvious low hanging fruit. Instead of all the schools starting at (roughy) the same time, break it up into 1/3rds. Eliminates need for 2/3rds of buses and drivers. Employ remaining drivers near full time. Win, win, win. Proposal is floated on a regular basis. Broadly popular with parents in the strictly hypothetical sense. And then most every parent loses their frikkin minds once the details become more concrete. So administrators recoil from the shit storm. And we're stuck with 3 times the number of buses and drivers than is actually needed with a more rational schedule.
- poulsbohemian 5y ago
  The problem in my case is that my kids would need to be at the bus stop an hour before school, when school is less than two miles away. Makes more sense for me to let them sleep a bit more, have a proper breakfast, and then take the 15 minutes to get them there and on with my day. Given the number of cars in front of the school, I think a lot of parents are making the same choice.
  - specialist 5y ago
    Totally. I no longer have a pie in this food fight. I would just like for all the belligerents to understand that difficult choices have been made. And then calm down.

specialist 5y ago

I just now remember a presentation about how hard it is for public schools to save money. Just one of the many examples was busing. Apparently, staggering schedules is obvious low hanging fruit. Instead of all the schools starting at (roughy) the same time, break it up into 1/3rds. Eliminates need for 2/3rds of buses and drivers. Employ remaining drivers near full time. Win, win, win. Proposal is floated on a regular basis. Broadly popular with parents in the strictly hypothetical sense. And then most every parent loses their frikkin minds once the details become more concrete. So administrators recoil from the shit storm. And we're stuck with 3 times the number of buses and drivers than is actually needed with a more rational schedule.

poulsbohemian 5y ago
The problem in my case is that my kids would need to be at the bus stop an hour before school, when school is less than two miles away. Makes more sense for me to let them sleep a bit more, have a proper breakfast, and then take the 15 minutes to get them there and on with my day. Given the number of cars in front of the school, I think a lot of parents are making the same choice.
- specialist 5y ago
  Totally. I no longer have a pie in this food fight. I would just like for all the belligerents to understand that difficult choices have been made. And then calm down.