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F-M board hears transportation study proposing opt-in ridership, stop consolidation and schedule tweaks
Summary
Consultants presented bus-routing changes to make room for a high-school lunch period: a modest morning shift, larger afternoon impacts, a proposed opt-in/opt-out ridership policy, stop consolidation and merging some parochial routes. Board members pressed on student ride time and safety; staff said family communication will follow within a week.
On June 8, 2026 the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District board heard a presentation from transportation consultants (On the Bus) outlining routing changes intended to create a high-school lunch period while keeping elementary and middle-school schedules close to their current times.
The consultants recommended an opt-in/opt-out registration to produce accurate ridership counts, consolidating bus stops where safe, moving some high-school afternoon drop-offs to middle-school locations with a half-mile walker zone, and exploring merged runs for nearby parochial or charter schools. The presentation also flagged the legal requirement to honor individual education program (IEP) transportation provisions for special-education students.
"If we know who is actually riding, we can right-size routes," the consultant Paul told the board, describing an opt-in approach that would ask juniors and seniors to opt in and allow kindergarten through 10th grade to opt out if alternate transportation is available. Paul said consolidated stops and fewer, better-filled routes are the keys to meeting the revised time targets.
Board member Jason Catalino pressed for specifics about ride time, calling out a projected flow in which a 2:20 high-school dismissal could leave students waiting at a middle school for buses and then spending additional time en route. "That means for a high-school student that gets dismissed at 2:20 that we're expecting every student that rides the bus to be on the bus a minimum of 30 minutes," Catalino said; the consultant replied that combined legs could run about 35–40 minutes depending on actual ridership.
District transportation staff said current ridership averages are roughly 30% at the high school (morning), about 50% for middle schools, and considerably higher for elementary. Staff and board members repeatedly raised safety concerns about consolidating stops and establishing walker zones where sidewalks, winter conditions, or narrow roads make walking hazardous.
The consultants also noted that maintaining the current triple-tier afternoon system without consolidation would require an estimated 15–20 additional buses and drivers, a figure staff said would be difficult to meet given nationwide driver shortages.
Superintendent Dr. Parvey and staff described a near-term implementation path: the district will discuss an opt-in/opt-out mechanism and other recommendations and expects to communicate decisions to families within about a week. Staff emphasized that not every recommendation would necessarily be implemented; rather, the board and transportation department will select the mix of changes that balance safety, staffing, and family needs.
Next steps identified at the meeting included establishing clear ridership counts via an opt-in process, examining stop consolidation case-by-case with safety as the priority, and further routing analysis to determine final times and staffing needs. The board did not take any immediate formal action on policy changes at the meeting; staff said required communications to families would follow once the district determines which recommendations it will pursue.
