OLATHE, Kan. — The Olathe School District could soon change what time school starts and ends to accommodate the ongoing bus driver shortage.   

In December, the school district launched a study to review school start and end times for the 2023-24 school year to help alleviate transportation challenges. Due to a lack of bus drivers, the district began implementing rolling transportation blackouts in January.

Right now the district has 150 bus drivers, but needs more than 180 drivers to cover all routes and cover routes for drivers who call out sick on any given day.  

Assistant Superintendent of Middle School Education Dr. Jim McMullen made a presentation to the school board explaining how adjusting school bell schedules could help alleviate some of the pressure. 

The district currently operates on a 2-tier bus system, meaning school start times are spread out enough to allow a single bus driver to operate multiple routes for middle school and high school bus riders. 

Now district leaders will consider adjusting school bell schedules to create a 3-tier transportation system to allow drivers to cover up to three routes each day. 

Staff and parent feedback 

In a survey sent to staff throughout the district, more than 700 participants said 8 a.m. is the earliest school start time they would support for elementary school students. That survey also indicated a majority of employees would support a 7:30 a.m. start time for middle school and high school students. 

In the same survey, 646 staff members indicated 4 p.m. is the latest school dismissal time they would support for elementary students. That’s compared to the 647 staff members who say the current 3:40 p.m. elementary dismissal time is the latest they’d support. 

A majority of respondents said 3 p.m. is the latest dismissal time they’d support for middle school students. At the high school level 437 staff members said they would support a 3 p.m. dismissal time while 441 staff members said they would support a 3:30 p.m. dismissal time. 

Results from a survey sent to parents in the district last month show a majority would support 8:30 a.m. as the latest start time and 8 a.m. as the earliest start time for elementary students. 

Parents indicated 7:30 a.m. is the earliest start time and 8:30 a.m. is the latest start time they would support for middle school students. At the high school level, the survey indicated a majority of parents would support 7:30 a.m. as the earliest start time and 8 a.m. as the latest start time. 

The survey showed a majority of parents would support 3 p.m. as the earliest dismissal time and 4 p.m. as the latest dismissal time for elementary and middle school students. Survey results show a majority of parents would support 2:40 p.m. as the earliest dismissal time and 4 p.m. as the latest dismissal time for high school students. 

Schedule options 

Under the current bell schedule DS Bus Lines operates 86 double routes and 96 single routes which require 182 drivers. 

“Our average ride time right now, middle school is 35 minutes, that’s home to school average. High school is 54 minutes with our earliest pickup time at 6:12 a.m. Then elementary school is 28 minutes,” McMullen said.  

District leaders will now weigh three options to adjust when classes begin and end at each school level to better accommodate transportation needs. 

The first option would adjust the bell schedule to reflect school hours as: 

High school: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Middle school: 8 a.m. – 3:20 p.m. 

Elementary school: 8:40 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

This option would allow for 31 triple routes, 69 double routes and 31 single routes requiring roughly 131 drivers. McMullen said this option would allow all bus routes to be fully staffed and could reduce the amount of time students spend on the bus.  

Under the second option, the bell schedule would be adjusted to set school hours as: 

High school: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.  

Middle school: 8:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. 

Elementary school: 8:55 a.m. -3:55 p.m. 

This option would allow for 21 triple routes, 74 double routes and 57 single routes requiring 152 drivers.

The third option would set school start and end times as: 

High school: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Middle school: 8:50 a.m.- 3:50 p.m. 

Elementary school: 8:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.

This option would allow for 47 triple routes, 90 double routes and 24 single routes requiring 161 drivers.

“We feel very confident that the 3-tier system is the most sustainable solution to address the transportation challenges in our district,” McMullen said. 

District staff will continue evaluating the schedule options and reviewing public feedback with the intention of presenting final schedule options for the board to vote on in the coming weeks. 

The school board could take action on the new bell schedule as early as April 6.