Local schools cite transportation trouble while planning for new mandated start times

Mar. 26—New state legislation mandating most middle schools and high schools begin classes at a later time this fall has created a number of concerns local districts are working to address.

Senate Bill 328, signed into law in 2019 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, said middle schools must start classes no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The bill cites research on the impacts of sleep deprivation in adolescents and the benefits of a later start time.

"This ... is very frustrating (for) a lot of people because it seems like it was an absolutely needless change right now," Jeremy Adams, a teacher at Bakersfield High School, said Friday. "Maybe it would be a good idea once things have gotten back to normal. It's an ... error of inconvenience."

The two biggest districts in the community — the Bakersfield City School District and the Kern High School District — are grappling with policy changes that will uproot their current schedules, according to presentations made at board meetings for both districts.

However, some districts are not impacted at all. The Wasco Union High School District, for example, is claiming an exemption as a rural school district and therefore does not have to comply, according to Robert Cobb, superintendent of the district, in an email.

For BCSD and KHSD, it means significant changes in their transportation plans. Amid a nationwide bus driver shortage, many school officials are dealing with limited resources while ensuring students arrive on campus in a timely manner, according to the presentations.

"When you change a schedule, there are all types of things that we have to look at," said Jennifer Irvin, assistant superintendent of education services of the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, which already has a schedule in compliance with the law. "There's a lot of planning that goes into it. It affects every department, every division."

Elementary and middle school students

Laura Orozco, BCSD assistant superintendent of educational services, said parents who aim to start their workday early must adjust to this new schedule.

Because junior high schools will now begin at 8 a.m., Orozco said, 11 elementary schools must also start at this time to accommodate their new transportation system.

BCSD typically has a three-tier busing system and will shift into a two-tier system.

A three-tier system involves staggered pick-up times of the students. One fleet of transportation would deploy to pick up children for the earliest start time at 7:30 a.m., which is the first-tier. These buses come back and then drive again to pick up students whose schools begin at 8:15 a.m., which is the second tier. The third tier included these same buses again, but would pick up students for the schools starting the latest, Orozco said.

A two-tiered system entails buses gathering junior high school students to attend school at 8 a.m. in the first tier. Eleven elementary schools will join in this tier, Orozco said. The second tier includes 22 schools starting at 8:50 a.m., which is the bulk of the district's elementary schools, she added.

In order to accommodate these changes, the number of bus routes will be reduced, according to a presentation made at the BCSD board meeting Tuesday. Largely, special education students will have new routes because their travel times typically take longer, said Nikki Stiles, BCSD assistant director for special education services, at Tuesday's board meeting.

For example, Leo G. Pauly Elementary School has four classrooms dedicated to autistic students, Stiles said. There are 31 autistic students at that elementary school in total, but only nine students live within the school's boundaries. Some students within Pauly's boundaries attend different campuses, she added.

The school plans to relocate 22 teachers and roughly 165 students to shift special education classes to different campuses, Stiles said Tuesday. For the students, the change will also shorten their bus rides and allow them to attend the schools closest to their homes, she added.

BCSD must also contend with a bus driver shortage when discussing these changes. The district hires almost every week to meet demand, while losing drivers retirement or employees leaving, Orozco said.

"This (bill) exacerbated that," she said.

The Panama-Buena Vista Union and Rosedale Union school districts are not affected by the legislation because the schools already begin after the mandated times, officials from both schools wrote via email.

Irvin said PBVUSD district took this approach to add instructional minutes, as well as citing the academic research on rest for students.

Kern High School District

Mike Zulfa, associate superintendent of business, presented KHSD's plans at a board meeting in February.

At the meeting, he said that the discussion has been going on for months to understand the legislation's impact on Career & Technical Education programs, extracurricular activities, meal service and transportation, families and employees.

Zulfa said they can offer zero period classes, or courses beginning before first period, if a regular day begins at 8:30 a.m. He added every school will need to adjust its start time, including the new Del Oro High School.

The plan presented in February said 12 campuses could start at 8:30 a.m. and end around 3:30 in the afternoon. Six sites would start at 9:20 a.m. and will finish around 4:20 p.m., Zulfa said. He attributed the staggered start times to transportation.

"This is not a local decision," Zulfa said at the February meeting. "This is a mandate of the state."

Erin Briscoe-Clarke, spokeswoman for the KHSD, declined to answer questions about the district's plans, as officials are still finalizing them and did not want to disseminate incomplete information that might confuse parents.

Adams, the BHS teacher, added "the business of life" will be curtailed in the afternoons, such as doctor's appointments and after-school practices. He said he believes students will only fall asleep an hour later, therefore will not actually get more rest.

"(This) is really going to be undermined by the fact that ... extracurricular activity (will start) in the morning time," Adams said. "If you're an active kid, you're going to be there regardless."

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.