From AAPSNews Service
Changes are planned for student bus transportation in the fall of 2011. The changes were approved as part of the 2011-12 fiscal year budget that begins in July 1. Families will be notified of these updates via SchoolMessenger phone and e-mail and additional updates will be posted to the school district website.
The district will not mail the Back-to-School booklet or high school guides for students and parents in the 2011-12 year. Bus stops and times, the “Rights and Responsibility” handbook and general school information will be posted on individual school and district websites.
Forms needed for the start of the school year will also be posted on the websites for downloading. Hard copies will be available at school buildings beginning in mid-August.
Following are changes that will be made for Ann Arbor Public Schools transportation for the 2011-12 school year:
For all students:
- The district will enforce the approved walk zone. There will be walk zones to .5 miles between each bus stop.
- Bus seating will be to capacity: (three students to a seat for elementary students; two students to a seat for middle and high school students.)
- Some bus routes will be combined, aligning them from feeder schools to the next destination.
Middle School transportation:
- No after-school 4 p.m. bus service at the middle schools.
High school transportation:
- There will be common bus pick-up sites for high school students at select elementary schools, determined by the 1.5-mile walk-zone radius to each high school as well as factoring in safety.
- Common bus stops will also be instituted around the outer “ring” of the district to accommodate students who do not live near an AAPS elementary school.
- More specifics will be sent to families this summer about bus stop locations.
- There will be no seventh-hour bus service at the high schools.
