Unpacking Buffalo Schools' new three-bell schedule (2024)

Buffalo Schools Chief Operating Officer David Hills calls the three-bell schedule to be introduced this fall in all Buffalo schools a "Hobson's choice," or a predicament where there's an illusion of options but really just one solution.

The problem? A nationwide shortage of school bus drivers– which has reduced Buffalo's fleet from 631 in 2019 to 464– has shown only meager improvement, despite efforts by the district and its partner to attract more drivers.

For administrators in Buffalo Schools, which transports 18,700 kindergarten through eighth grade students, 6,500 charter school students and many others through its partnership with First Student, the lone solution is adjusting the start and end times of all schools.

"We've had to have a real hard look, and this is the best solution to alleviating the crisis overall that we have," Hills said Wednesday. "This doesn't set easily, but it is critically necessary that we step out of this period of time into more predictable, reliable transportation."

Buffalo's kindergarten through eighth grade students this year split between 8 and 9 a.m. start times and 2:55 and 3:55 p.m. end times. Buffalo's new approachfor this fall changes start times to 7:30, 8:20 and 9:10 a.m. and dismissals to 2:25, 3:15 and 4:05 p.m. By adding a third bell time, bus drivers can complete two runs in the mornings and afternoons, essentially opening the door to more work for the same number of drivers.

Teachers will start five minutes before students and finish 15 minutes after they leave. Their instructional day remains seven hours and 15 minutes.

The Buffalo School Board on Wednesday officially approved the three-bell schedule, which will go into effect in September.

Hills in two presentations has emphasized how the new schedule will resolve inequities. For the last two years, elementary students had their school day shortened by at least 15 minutes to accommodate the transportation schedule. Only students with their own transportation could participate in after-school academic programs.

The average bus ride for students this year lasted 43 minutes, Hills said, and some buses packed 60 kids. There were 311 bus aides for 464 routes. The district did make significant progress in addressing uncovered routes, which affected children in the fall.

Not everyone is thrilled by the changes.

Contrary to the district's sample of parents and teachers surveyed by a special transportation committee last fall, some teachers and parent groups have been outspoken against the three-bell schedule for several reasons, including child care adjustments, accommodating their own work schedules and concerns over very early pickups and very late drop-offs.

The three-bell schedule was a late bargaining emphasis between Buffalo Schools and the Buffalo Teachers Federation, which earlier this year sparred over a district memorandum of understanding that sought to change times midyear. Both sides made concessions in its eventual agreement, BTF president Philip Rumore said.

From the district's messaging Wednesday, some parents were already frustrated by the impending change.

"It's different," Superintendent Tonja M. Williams said of the three-bell schedule. "When things are different and when there's change, it's hard to make sure – we're dealing with 31,000 children– that everyone will have the same level of enthusiasm and support for it.

"I ask parents to please be patient with us," she added.

The district's messaging has so far caused confusion. A board member Wednesday said some parents told her they thought the three-bell schedule had been tossed out. Buffalo Schools' Facebook posts Thursday sparked more than 300 comments and shares. Terri Schuta, a new board member, said there was a lack of information shared with parents before Wednesday's resolution.

"Parents at this point don't know– a good portion of our parents aren't aware," Schuta said Wednesday. "I haven't received one phone call."

Hills replied that the district would announce scheduling changes on BuffaloSchools.org, publish a video to be shown at all community meetings about the changes and pen letters addressed separately to parents and teachers. On Facebook, Buffalo Schools shared a QR code and Microsoft Forms link to submit feedback.

Samuel Radford III of the Buffalo Education Equity Task Force campaigned to local and state officials about transportation inequities over the last several months, receiving support from the Buffalo Common Council and Erie County Legislature. Radford hoped the bell-times would be changed immediately, but said he's ecstatic it's happening at all.

"I'm happy our children will get the same opportunity that every other child gets," he said, adding that he would like to see the district assess the harm the transportation crisis caused students and, to make up lost ground, invest in high-impact tutoring and tap into educational support services through community partnerships.

Will parents and teachers have any recourse when they receive their new schedules? Teachers who face hardship by the change will be able to apply for a transfer beginning June 1 and will be placed atop the transfer list by seniority, a contractual term. Another opportunity for teachers and parents will be community meetings held by each school individually in May and June.

But with the school board approving the three-bell resolution Wednesday, any further edits seem unlikely.

"I will say the only thing that I go back to is I wish the school meetings were before the resolution was finalized," Schuta said.

High school students, who were originally spared from any changes in the district's MOU last fall, will see their schedules change, too. Acomplicating factor is the district devotes 40 buses for high school students with developmental needs. Last week, a three-bell schedule appeared set for the older group, even though it relies on metro bus and rail transportation instead of yellow buses.

Feedback last week spurred a change in plans for high schoolers. The athletics department, Hills said, shared concerns about competition times and how some sports teams included students from multiple schools. Others shared worries about how early students would need to board the Metro to arrive by 7:30 a.m. For the proposed later start times, students congregating at dark at trouble spots like Fountain Plaza, near South Park and at Amherst and Elmwood led to pause.

The district has decided to pivot to a two-bell schedule for high schoolers, with start times at 7:40 and 8:25 a.m. and 2:35 and 3:20 p.m. end times next year. Most high schools would start at 8:25 a.m., Hills said.

"We cut to the bone in order to make this work," Hills said of the high school adjustment. "There is no fat in what we proposed– we had to really innovate to find some savings."

Buffalo Schools' insistence on the three-bell schedule was accompanied by the superintendent's admission that other avenues did not solve the transportation problem. From raising wages to offering signing bonuses to facilitating the commercial driver's license process, Buffalo and First Student's strategies to attract more drivers have not been fruitful. A pilot program to reimburse parents for driving their students to school helped lighten the load on some buses, but ultimately did not save any routes.

Williams, the superintendent, said implementing the three-bell schedule meets one of her goals.

"At the end of the road, though, it really became an issue of equity– really trying to do something to lessen the time on buses for children, to have all of our children access the extended learning time programs," she said.