School closures could mean longer commutes for students. Here’s why that’s a problem.
If plans to consolidate seven middle schools in the Fort Worth Independent School District go forward, it will mean students at some of those campuses have longer trips to and from school each day.
But research indicates that longer commute times to and from school can take a toll on students’ lives outside of school. In a 2017 study, researchers found that the time students spend on the school bus can mean less time for sleeping and exercise.
“The research suggests that more local schools are good for students’ health, and probably for their well-being,” said Michael Smart, a professor of urban planning at Rutgers University.
FWISD eyes middle school consolidation
Fort Worth ISD officials are proposing a plan to combine seven middle schools into three new campuses. In the Paschal High School pyramid, district officials could consolidate McLean 6th Grade, McLean Middle School and Daggett Middle School into a single campus. In the North Side High School pyramid, the district is looking at merging J.P. Elder and Kirkpatrick middle schools. And in the Polytechnic High School pyramid, the district is considering combining William James and Morningside middle schools. If the school board approves the plan, the district would use money from the 2021 bond issue that was designated for school improvements to construct new buildings to house the consolidated schools.
The proposed consolidations are a part of a larger effort to deal with declining enrollment in the district. District leaders are in the middle of a $2 million study to look at school capacity, including “rightsizing recommendations” that are expected to include campus closures. Fort Worth ISD leaders are expected to present that report to the school board sometime later this year. District officials have said that recommendations for school closures are likely to go beyond the campuses included in the middle school proposal.
Fewer schools means longer bus, car rides to school
If district leaders move forward with consolidation plans, it will mean that many middle schoolers have to travel further to their new schools. For example, J.P. Elder and Kirkpatrick are about 3.5 miles apart. If the district decided to build a new consolidated middle school at the site where J.P. Elder is located now, students who live within walking distance of Kirkpatrick would instead have to take a bus or have their parents drive them to school.
District officials have acknowledged that bus services have been a challenge for at least the past two years. Parents have complained that buses are routinely late, and sometimes don’t arrive at all. Last fall, the mother of a student at North Hi Mount Elementary School told the Star-Telegram that her son’s bus driver dropped the 6-year-old off 10 minutes away from the community center where his mother expected to meet him. The incident was one in a series of cases in which bus drivers dropped students off at the wrong stops.
Several parents expressed concern about transportation issues during a series of community listening sessions the district held last month to discuss consolidation plans. During a listening session at Daggett Middle School, Kellie Spencer, the district’s deputy superintendent for operations, told parents that the district would rework its bus routes to include new school locations if the board approves any of the consolidation plans. The district offers transportation to students who live two miles or farther from school, and district officials have said it will continue to do so if the plan moves forward. Spencer said the district’s transportation staff would work to streamline bus routes so students will continue to have access to safe, reliable bus service every day.
Long commutes to school mean less sleep, exercise
Research suggests that longer commute times to and from school can take a toll on students’ lives. In a study published in 2017, researchers analyzed 12 years’ worth of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey. They found that the average commute time was 18 minutes. But a small number of students traveled an hour or more each direction, the study says.
Researchers found that, when students spend long hours traveling to and from school, that extra time tends to come at the expense of sleep and exercise. For every additional minute students spent commuting to school, they got 1.3 fewer minutes of sleep, according to the report. And students with commutes of a half hour or less got, on average, an hour and 15 minutes more exercise per day than those with longer commute times. The researchers theorized that the difference in exercise time could be due to the fact that many students get their exercise as a part of organized sports, and a longer commute could keep some from participating in athletics.
Smart, the Rutgers professor, was one of the researchers who conducted the study. He said another factor that could contribute to the difference in exercise time is the fact that many students get their exercise playing outside with other kids. When students have longer commute times, that means fewer daylight hours for them to spend playing when they get home from school, he said.
But not all activities seemed to suffer when students had long journeys to and from school. Students who had commute times of 30 minutes or more reported spending more time studying than those with shorter drives. And students’ commute times appeared to have no significant bearing on the amount of time they spent watching television, according to the report.
“I guess TV is just really attractive,” Smart said.
In sprawling cities like Fort Worth and others in Texas, it can be a challenge for school leaders to keep students from spending long stretches of time commuting to and from school, Smart said. But evidence suggests students are better off when their schools are closer to home. That means doing what’s best for kids might sometimes mean fighting against school closures, he said.
Fort Worth ISD officials are expected to present the middle school consolidation plan to the school board on May 28.
