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Superintendent reports on bus routing glitch, class sizes and summer-school enrollment
Summary
Superintendent Miguel Catalino told the board a routing software problem delayed bus route letters; he also reported district enrollment, class-size averages and reduced summer-school participation compared with last year.
Superintendent Dr. Miguel Catalino told the Kingston City School District Board of Education that a routing-software failure caused delays in sending families printed bus-route letters and some missing timing details, and he outlined the district’s process for correcting route and stop issues.
Catalino said the district’s routing system, Transfinder, experienced a glitch that slowed the release of bus assignments and did not populate some arrival times. He said hard-copy mailings were delayed when a letter-folding machine malfunctioned and staff worked to catch up. Catalino asked parents with ongoing safety concerns to first contact their school principal, who can escalate issues to the transportation director and the assistant superintendent; he said the district’s transportation office will typically take a few weeks to stabilize routes after the start of the school year.
The superintendent also provided enrollment and class-size data: total student enrollment on the first day was 5,957. He said district-wide average class sizes were: kindergarten 17 (high 21 in two classrooms), first grade average 18 (high 22 at Meijer), second grade average 19 (high 22 at Edson), third grade average 20 (high 24 at Edson) and fourth grade average 20 (high 25 at Edson). Catalino said the district’s class-size goals are 21 or fewer in K–2 and that most grades meet targets except for a few sections.
Catalino reported summer-school participation declines in some programs: elementary summer school (Rise to 5 at JFK) had 150 participants; a sixth–eighth grade program had 110 participants; Summer 9 had 58 students (down from about 90 last year); extended school year (Meijer) served 121 students; and a small KCIS reading academy had 20 students. He attributed lower summer-school numbers to scaled-back programming after the end of ARPA funding and said the district will revisit recruitment and program design.
Ending: District leaders said they will continue to review routes and schedules, communicate with parents, and return to the board with follow-up information about transportation fixes and summer-school recruitment plans.
