School committee approves shift to three-tier bus schedule to curb chronic delays

The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District School Committee voted 7–0 on Jan. 9 to commit to a three-tier bus schedule beginning with the 2025–26 school year, a change the district’s transportation vendor says will reduce projected operating costs and ease chronic afternoon delays.

Parents had urged faster relief during the meeting’s public-comment period. “Twenty‑five minutes late was my daughter’s bus today,” parent Sean Thatcher told the committee, describing anxiety and missed activities caused by unpredictable pickup times.

The district’s contracted transportation representative told the committee the current two‑tier system depends on 33 regular routes and has no spare drivers; when employees call out, routes are combined and families lose reliable tracking. The presenter said LPBC has launched intensive recruitment—bilingual mailings and targeted outreach—and reported that two recent recruitment mailings produced dozens of applicants and a handful of new hires now in training.

Officials presented a cost comparison showing a projected FY26 total transportation cost of $3,453,750 under the two‑tier model and $3,130,927 under a three‑tier model, a projected savings of about $322,023. The vendor cautioned that some specialized-route costs would rise under the three‑tier option and that implementation is logistically complex.

Committee members and parents pressed for both short‑term and structural remedies: improved communication to families, neighborhood or “group” stops to reduce door‑to‑door time, better use of substitute drivers in neighboring garages, and clearer rider rosters. The vendor said it is pursuing multiple measures including bilingual CDL testing, incentives in the collective‑bargaining agreement, and changes to notifications with the district’s student‑information system vendor.

The motion to adopt a three‑tier schedule was made by a committee member and seconded during the meeting; after discussion, the committee approved the plan 7–0 and asked staff to return with implementation details and a timeline. The committee also directed staff to study interim measures (group bus stops, route consolidation or opt‑out options) intended to reduce daily lateness while recruitment continues.

Next steps include drafting a communication plan for families, finalizing projected bell times that will determine routing windows, and coordinating with other member districts and the vendor to ensure necessary substitutes and spares are in place before the system change. The committee heard that LPBC recommended implementing a three‑tier schedule at the start of a school year to ensure adequate notice and minimize midyear disruption.