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Danbury to combine Westside Academy and DHS West bus runs; swimmers ask for practice transportation
Summary
District staff proposed combining Westside Academy and Danbury High School West bus runs for efficiency, with students noting earlier start times; separately, members of the DHS swim team asked the board for bus service to off-site practices at New Fairfield High School.
District officials told the Board of Education the district will move forward with a plan to combine certain runs serving Westside Academy at DHS West. Under the proposed configuration, buses would stop at DHS West first and then at Westside Academy; students bound for DHS would be dropped at about 6:55 a.m. and Westside Academy drop-off times were projected around 7:10–7:25 a.m., meaning some students would begin their day roughly 15 minutes earlier than previously.
Administrators said the combined runs would group grades 6278 and 102712 (ninth graders will not be on the combined runs because fall ninth graders attend Danbury High School). The district said it will monitor run lengths and behavior in the fall and that combined magnet-school runs are common in other districts.
Separately, a student who identified himself as EJ, a member of the boys swim team, told the board that because Danbury lacks an on-site pool the team practices at New Fairfield High School and that late practice times and family transportation limits contributed to attrition. EJ asked whether the district could provide a bus for practices once or twice a week; district staff fielded clarifying questions about the practice site and logistics but did not record a formal commitment at the meeting.
Officials said they will send an official letter to families describing the bus-run change and will present the plan to Westside PTO and monitor outcomes in the fall.
