Board receives detailed update on bell‑time study; staff to refine options including possible middle/high‑school swap

Poudre School District R‑1 staff on Jan. 28 presented an update on an ongoing bell‑time and transportation study that modeled multiple schedule options, estimated staffing and vehicle implications, and identified tradeoffs between operational efficiency and family routines.

Chief Financial Officer Dave Montoya and transportation staff summarized work that began in 2023 with First Consulting and explained why the district moved from a two‑tier to a three‑tier routing model at the start of the 2024–25 school year. Montoya said the three‑tier model allowed the district to reduce routes from about 123 to 113 and that “this was a big win” because it lowered the number of drivers needed and reduced overtime and charter‑bus expenses that had been necessary during earlier driver shortages.

However, Montoya said the district still faces a shortage of roughly six drivers at the time of the meeting, and that the bus fleet’s average age — roughly 15 years — and national supply‑chain delays complicate adding routes or buses quickly. He said a recent solicitation asks vendors for pricing on up to 17 buses and that procurement could prioritize vendors with current inventory, even at higher unit price, to reduce lead times.

First Consulting and district staff ran three broad families of options with the district’s routing software: (1) shift morning tiers later (for example, 8:00 / 9:05 in a three‑tier model), (2) a middle position that shifts starts by about 15 minutes (for example, 7:45 / 9:05), and (3) more substantial shifts that move the entire day later (for example, 8:00 / 8:45 / 9:35). Montoya explained that compressing the window when buses must run increases the number of buses required; for some modeled scenarios staff estimated a need for dozens of additional routes, with cost estimates in the low‑ to mid‑millions of dollars.

Board members raised multiple operational and equity questions: how schedule changes would affect after‑school athletics and activities, impacts on working families and daycare schedules, effects on students receiving special medications, and whether reversing tiers (putting middle schools in the latest start slot and high schools earlier) might reduce negative effects on student jobs and high‑school activities. Montoya and other staff said the modeling can be refined and that the district will engage the consulting firm again to run additional scenarios, including a possible flip of middle‑ and high‑school tiers.

Several board members emphasized cost neutrality as a priority given budget constraints and the district’s ongoing fleet needs. Staff indicated that some scenarios (notably ones that simply shift the entire day later without compressing the operating window) produced little change in the number of routes required, while other scenarios that compress the morning window substantially increased route counts and costs.

Superintendent Kingsley and board members asked staff to return with refined analyses, consider family and student feedback, and explore longer‑term transportation eligibility and route‑radius questions. Staff noted the timeframe for a change to take effect: school choice, course scheduling and configuration packets for the following academic year create practical deadlines for any change to be implemented for the 2025–26 school year.