Deptford schools change bell schedule again to try to fix school busing crisis

Beginning Monday, the Deptford school system is changing its bell schedule for the third time in another attempt to fix a bus driver shortage that has left kids chronically late or missing school since the start of the school year.

After a special meeting Thursday night, the school board approved a revised transportation plan that will mean new start and dismissal times for more than 1,500 high school and middle school students. The times were previously changed twice since the 2022-23 school year began.

The high school day will now start an hour earlier, at 7 a.m., and dismiss at 1:35 p.m. The district moved the start time from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at the beginning of the school year after a nationwide push to give teenagers much-needed sleep that studies say enables them to perform better academically.

The district then changed start times from 8 to 7:40 a.m. to try to alleviate bus drivers’ rush.

In the meantime, a bill introduced in the state Legislature would mandate start times for most high schoolers to be no earlier than 8:30 a.m., beginning with the 2023-24 school year. If approved, it would not apply to middle or elementary schools.

Currently, most New Jersey high schools begin their day at 7:51 a.m., compared with the national average of 8 a.m., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Elementary and middle schools typically start later.

With the start time changes to the high school in Deptford, middle school will now start at 7:50 a.m., instead of 7:35 a.m., and dismiss at 2:25 p.m. The start time for the district’s two preschools would return to 9:15 a.m.

Chris DeSanto, an assistant business administrator at the district, said the changes were needed to eliminate inefficient bus routes that were taking drivers too long to transport students. The earlier start for high school will provide more time for drivers to finish those routes before heading back out to pick up younger students, he said.

DeSanto said the district plans to primarily use its own staff of 34 drivers to pick up elementary school students. The district had hired 15 drivers from Holcomb Bus Service this year, and some were not familiar with routes. Parents complained they were getting lost.

Deptford officials say its transportation crisis has become worse, mainly because of the national school bus driver shortage. The district has been unable to hire more drivers, despite offering bonuses and other incentives, officials say.

Parents say students have been waiting for more than an hour for a bus to pick them up in the morning or bring them home in the afternoon. Some older students, tired of waiting at the end of the day, have been getting rides with Lyft or Uber rides. Some parents have called the police in search of their children, or purchased tracking devices to locate their whereabouts.

Deptford reconfigured routes last month to try to fix the problem, but that has not been effective.

Last year, Deptford, along with the Camden and Glassboro school districts, staggered their bell schedules to give existing drivers enough time to finish and restart routes. This year, Camden has said it has enough buses and drivers to help transport about 4,000 kids enrolled in its traditional district schools, as well as charter and Renaissance schools. The district leased a fleet of buses and hired local residents as drivers.

DeSanto said the district consulted with police and other stakeholders to develop the revised transportation plan.

» READ MORE: Unlike last year, Camden schools say they will now have enough buses and drivers to transport all eligible students

The district set up a transportation hotline that Superintendent Arthur Dietz answered until it could hire two people to field calls. The line is staffed 12 hours daily until the last bus returns from dropping off students at home.

DeSanto said the district plans to consolidate its routes for students who attend the Gloucester County Institute of Technology from six to five. There had been complaints that some buses were more than an hour late picking up students.

The district is also looking into getting GPS software to provide drivers with turn-by-turn directions. Drivers were expected to select their new routes Friday and make test runs over the weekend, he said.

The new transportation plan drew mixed reactions from parents Thursday night at the meeting attended by about 30 people. Robert Miller, who said he was considering legal action, said he sent a letter to the state Department of Education because “your busing is the worst.”

Paul DeCraene said the plan sounds like a good idea, but wants to make sure parents are notified when buses are running late. There was no notification when the bus bringing his 4-year-old daughter home was an hour late, he said.

“There’s no communication,” he said.

» READ MORE: N.J. school districts continue to change their bell schedules — and frustrate parents — to cope with the bus shortage