Middle school enrollment questions
Transportation FAQs
This section contains questions from families specifically related to transportation.
Of the eight proposals for the middle feeder realignment, a majority have students being transported across the district to a middle school that is far from where they live. Transporting students across the district when there are two middle schools within 1.5 miles from their home seems off the mark. Instead, focus could and should be on making our schools equitable for every student by fixing what is broken in each middle school. How will we ensure reliable transportation for ALL children, especially the sixth-graders (some of which will still be 10 in September)? The current CDTA buses are not reliable nor COVID-19 safe (packing enough students for two buses onto one bus because the drivers aren't trained to drive a double bus). Will Albany invest in yellow busing so that we can feel confident that our children will make it safely to their school that is a 45-minute ride across Albany?
The district will continue to transport all secondary students (grades 6-12) in partnership with CDTA, with the exception of students whose Individualized Education Plan (IEP) calls for specialized transportation. We will continue to provide those services in partnership with First Student.
We will continue to work with CDTA to ensure that students have access to both tripper buses (CDTA routes that serve individual schools) as well as all of CDTA’s main route service. Like transportation entities throughout the Capital Region, state and nation, a lack of qualified drivers has been the biggest challenge CDTA has encountered this school year. The bus driver shortage was a national dilemma prior to the pandemic, and it has been become markedly worse during the two years of this worldwide public health crisis. Both of our transportation partners have been aggressive in trying to meet their need for drivers, but both continue to experience shortages that are affecting service. The district is prepared to invest in additional CDTA service to support all of the secondary students we serve, but availability will continue to be dependent on CDTA and First Student staffing levels for the foreseeable future
How much will this increase in transportation cost? The district? The taxpayers?
A CDTA tripper bus for a full school year will cost the district approximately $50,000 in 2022-23. Two tripper buses would be the equivalent of approximately one-tenth of 1% on the tax levy.
Currently I live within 1.5 miles of two middle schools. Why would my child have to be bused to a third school that is the school farthest away? How long would this expected bus ride be with how many stops?
The district’s goal is to establish a new middle school feeder enrollment pattern that provides the programming, resources and support that every student in grades 6-8 needs to succeed.
The district currently partners with CDTA to operate tripper buses that serve nearly every section of the city. This will continue to be the case no matter what new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects. Most CDTA tripper routes will continue to be in the range of 25-35 minutes in total duration, with nearly every student on those buses riding for a shorter period of time depending on their stop.
There are currently a few tripper routes that are in the range of 40-50 minutes in total duration, again with each student’s ride depending on their stop. Our goal is to work with CDTA to minimize the number of tripper routes in that longer range to the best of our ability, depending on CDTA’s ability to identify drivers to operate any additional routes that the district may need to add depending on the new feeder pattern.
What about after-school programming and possible transportation?
The district will continue to provide transportation for after-school programs at the middle level as we do currently.
A majority of the proposals have students being transported across the district very far from where they live. How can we ensure there is reliable transportation for all students? The CDTA buses are often unreliable with being on time and would not have ample space for all the kids. In addition, that could be a lot for some younger (10 years old for sixth-graders) to manage.
We will continue to work with CDTA to ensure that students have access to both tripper buses (CDTA routes that serve individual schools) as well as all of CDTA’s main route service. Like transportation entities throughout the Capital Region, state and nation, a lack of qualified drivers has been the biggest challenge CDTA has encountered this school year.
The bus driver shortage was a national dilemma prior to the pandemic, and it has been become markedly worse during the two years of this worldwide public health crisis. Both of our transportation partners have been aggressive in trying to meet their need for drivers, but both continue to experience shortages that are affecting service.
The district is prepared to invest in additional CDTA service to support all of the secondary students we serve, but availability will continue to be dependent on CDTA staffing levels for the foreseeable future.
Thank you to the Board of Education and Feeder Alignment Committee members for all your hard work! We have four children currently enrolled in Albany schools and have happily been a City School District of Albany family for the last 10 years. We have some questions about the plans for a more equitable feeder pattern. The proposed changes would affect our students at New Scotland Elementary School
Five out of the eight scenarios feed New Scotland students to North Albany and our main concern is transportation.
We live about seven miles away from North Albany and, with driver shortages, we do not feel confident that there will be a reliable daily way to get to and from North Albany. If kids miss the tripper, there is not another CDTA bus available that would get you close to North Albany, and driving both ways with three other kids' drop-off and pick-up times becomes untenable. It takes our current Hackett student 45 minutes to get home (a distance of about 1.5 miles) because CDTA is short drivers and buses and the route goes in a loop around downtown Albany.
CDTA has said they have no plans to provide the previously available route (a tripper that drops off kids on the same route as the regular #13, which would be a huge help to New Scotland families with siblings), and they also cannot adjust the regular bus schedule to have a bus arrive closer to Hackett dismissal time of 3 p.m. Walking and waiting at a regular non-tripper bus stop and walking all the way home are other options in this scenario, but this would not be the case from North Albany.
We will continue to work with CDTA to ensure that students have access to both tripper buses (CDTA routes that serve individual schools) as well as all of CDTA’s main route service. The district is prepared to invest in additional CDTA service to support all of the secondary students we serve, but availability will continue to be dependent on CDTA staffing levels for the foreseeable future.
How long of a bus ride is it from New Scotland to North Albany Middle School?
In general, a bus ride from an elementary school enrollment zone to a middle school depending on where in the elementary zone a family lives. As a point of reference, we currently have a tripper bus for Myers Middle School that starts and ends its run in the North Albany community. The total time of this route, including stops, is 35-40 minutes.
I would like to learn more about the transportation plan associated with these plans. Several proposals require students who live in western Albany to get to North Albany on a daily basis. Will this be done through CDTA or First Student busing routes? Will the heavy reliance on busing and the non-central location of North Albany make it challenging for these students to participate in school activities before and after school?
The district will continue to transport all secondary students (grades 6-12) in partnership with CDTA, with the exception of students whose Individualized Education Plan (IEP) calls for specialized transportation. We will continue to provide those services in partnership with First Student.
The district currently partners with CDTA to operate tripper buses that serve nearly every section of the city. This includes a tripper route currently serving North Albany Middle School that travels Western Avenue all the way out to the Point of Woods neighborhood on New Karner Road. We will continue to work with CDTA to provide accessible bus service for all students no matter what new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects.
When looking at transportation data, did you take into account the distance children from the farthest points would need to travel and time the bus would take during heavy traffic times of the day? A child who currently lives near a school could see their travel time greatly increased if moved to a school across the city.
Yes, we have taken those transportation-related factors into consideration as part of our planning process to this point. These factors will continue to be part of the process as the Board of Education works toward a final decision in March.
If you keep all kids within the 1.5 mile-radius there would be no need for busing so many students! I cannot send my kid to a school so far from home without having a plan for transport, so I just want a choice of either school that is within the 1.5 miles so none of my kids ever have had a bus.
Our planning process has taken into consideration the various transportation impacts for all students, and will continue to do so. An important focus of this part of the work has been on minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, the number of students in the “long walk” range of 1.0-1.5 miles. However, we cannot guarantee that all students will live within 1.5 miles of their assigned middle school.
How do you expect the bus driver shortage will be fixed by the fall? It will take more buses to change the feeders next year, yet the buses can’t manage this year as it is.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that the bus driver shortage that is affecting school districts throughout the region, state and nation will change appreciably by the start of the 2022-23 school year.
We understand the impact that the driver shortage has had on both our First Student and CDTA buses this school year. Both of our transportation partners continue to work aggressively to recruit new drivers, and will continue to do so as we move forward. If more CDTA tripper buses are needed for next school year based on the new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects, the district is prepared to invest in adding buses where necessary, pending CDTA’s ability to staff any new routes.
We also will continue to assess route schedules, school dropoff times and other logistical variables that the district can control in an effort to develop more consistent transportation experiences for our students and families.
Your analysis of the transportation impacts cuts off at 1.5 miles. Several of these scenarios will require many students to travel distances in excess of five miles. Have you determined how many additional students will have such very long commutes as a result of these scenarios?
The 1.5-mile distance is used because that is the distance that qualifies students for transportation, unless their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) calls for specialized transportation.
The district currently partners with CDTA to operate tripper buses that serve nearly every section of the city. This will continue to be the case no matter what new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects. Most CDTA tripper routes will continue to be in the range of 25-35 minutes in total duration, with nearly every student on those buses riding for a shorter period of time depending on their stop. There are currently a few tripper routes that are in the range of 40-50 minutes in total duration, again with each student’s ride depending on their stop.
Our goal is to work with CDTA to minimize the number of tripper routes in that longer range to the best of our ability, depending on CDTA’s ability to identify drivers to operate any additional routes that the district may need to add depending on the new feeder pattern.
The bus situation is terrible this year, and I'm tired of the COVID-19 answer. Even the tripper buses come late and don't follow a schedule. My Albany High School kid's bus didn't come until 8:15 a.m. today, that's 15-25 minutes later than it’s scheduled (and I say 15-25 minutes because it hasn't come at the same time every day). It's a bus, which is supposed to follow a schedule. Now if my kid has to go clear across town to get to North Albany Middle School, how can I depend on CDTA to get him and other kids to school on time?
We agree and understand that inconsistency with First Student and CDTA buses has been frustrating this school year.
Unfortunately, the impacts of the public health crisis that is now going on two years are, to a large degree, beyond the control of our transportation partners. Both of our transportation partners continue to work aggressively to recruit new drivers, and will continue to do so as we move forward. If more CDTA tripper buses are needed for next school year based on the new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects, the district is prepared to invest in adding buses where necessary, pending CDTA’s ability to staff any new routes.
We also will continue to assess route schedules, school dropoff times and other logistical variables that the district can control in an effort to develop more consistent transportation experiences for our students and families.
Right now buses are overcrowded and unsafe. In order for parents to feel safe putting students on long bus rides, you need more buses so that they are not overcrowded, and you absolutely must put monitors on middle school buses to prevent bullying.
The district’s ability to address those situations in which some buses have more riders than others has been limited this school year by the labor shortage that has significantly affected the ability of our transportation partners to hire drivers.
Both First Student and CDTA continue to work aggressively to recruit new drivers and aides, and will continue to do so as we move forward. If more CDTA tripper buses are needed for next school year based on the new feeder pattern the Board of Education selects, the district is prepared to invest in adding buses where necessary, pending CDTA’s ability to staff any new routes.
We also will continue to assess route schedules, school dropoff times and other logistical variables that the district can control in an effort to develop more consistent transportation experiences for our students and families.
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