WARREN Plan for district targets busing, school schedules

The proposal is part of the district's ongoing cost-cutting to stave off a deficit.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Vanita Hill worries that proposed changes in the city school transportation and school schedules will result in young children's being home by themselves before and after school.
Hill's daughter attends Western Reserve Middle School, which isn't affected by the change, but Hill remains active in Horace Mann Elementary, which her daughter attended.
If the changes are enacted, Horace Mann pupils will arrive at and leave school 35 minutes later next school year than they did this year.
"The majority of the people I know are single parents," Hill said.
She worries about the children whose parents have to be at work earlier than their children start school. That will mean young children at home by themselves before school.
Changes presented
The proposed changes were presented by administrators at a school board meeting Tuesday. The board hasn't voted on the new schedule. It's part of the school district's ongoing cost-cutting measures to stave off a projected deficit.
The district previously announced that Devon and Roosevelt Elementary schools will close at the end of this school year.
The district's financial condition is a result of declining enrollment, reductions in state funding, rising fleet, property, liability and health insurance and community, or charter, schools, Superintendent Betty English said.
The school board directed the administration earlier this year to come up with a plan to reduce and put off the district's operating at a deficit.
The district already has made cuts, changing a projected deficit from occurring in fiscal year 2005 till fiscal year 2007. The cuts also have reduced the projected 2007 deficit from $26.5 million to $4.8 million.
Without cuts, the start would have declared the district in fiscal emergency and a state commission would have been appointed to make decisions for the district, the superintendent and board members said.
"We've been able to do that without interrupting programs or services," English said.
More busing
Closure of two elementary schools means more pupils will be bused next year, but James Russo, district executive director of business operations, said the changes to the bus schedule will reduce both the number of buses and bus drivers used from 31 to 22.
That will mean operating expenses for transportation will drop from $1,450,000 to $950,000, he said.
"The changing of the bell times in no way infringes on the safety or service we provide for our students," Russo said.
But many parents and teachers who attended Tuesday's packed board meeting weren't convinced.
Kimberly Hugley, a member of the Horace Mann Parents Advisory Committee, said the later start times mean many parents will have to find someone to watch their children or leave them home alone after they go to work.
Board member Lynn Gibson said the district isn't trying to cause parents or teachers problems. But no matter what change the district would make with its busing schedule, there would be someone unhappy about it, she said.
"When my kids were in school, I never liked a start time for my kids," Gibson said.