Consultant Offers Controversial Solutions to Improve Boston School Bus Performance

A consultant hired by Boston Public Schools has offered several controversial suggestions to fix the troubled school bus system.

According to the Boston Globe, the consultant has suggested changing school start times, putting limits on students riding buses and reevaluating which students with disabilities would get service.

His suggestions were presented to the school system on Wednesday night trying to decrease transportation costs, which has made the state demand changes from the district.

School scheduling has been a hotly debated issue now that the system is managing 19 different start times and 25 different dismissals, many of those during Boston's rush hour, according to the Globe.

Boston Public School's Bus Operations transport 21,500 students to over 200 public and private schools in the district.

The report says changing bell times would allow BPS to shrink their fleet and cut costs.

Transportation concerns are not new in the district. This fall, many parents voiced concerns about bussing. Among the issues discussed were buses not showing up on time or at all, and students will special needs not being assigned bus monitors.

Like many other districts, BPS has had to contend with the bus driver shortage. And a month-long closure of the Orange Line, which started in August and stretched into the beginning of the school year, forced district officials to focus energies on ensuring students who normally used the MBTA had safe alternatives to get to school.

New Superintendent Mary Skipper is optimistic and says the district is making progress on the transportation timelines.