HCPSS Students Will Have New Start Times To Help With Ongoing Bus Delays

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — To help alleviate the transportation issues within the Howard County Public School System, new school start times will be implemented effective Sept. 20.

HCPSS Superintendent Michael Martirano announced this week in a message sent to families that the move to different start times will help buses arrival to school on time.

"It has been frustrating to know that thousands of students are experiencing delays that have interrupted instructional time at the beginning of the day and that some students are getting dropped off nearly two hours after their dismissal," Martirano said. "During the first few days of the school year, we addressed several logistical issues that impacted transportation. However, despite these adjustments, the biggest issue impacting the ability of bus drivers to deliver students to school in the morning and home in the afternoon on time is insufficient time between our school start times."

Buses have been delayed at the schools with the earliest start times due to insufficient route timing, traffic delays and competing with student drivers/car drop-offs entering and exiting schools at the same time, Martirano said.

"This results in a domino effect, and buses become later and later as they serve additional schools on their routes," he explained. "Board of Education policy allows me to adjust start times by 10 minutes or less. To build additional time into the student transportation schedule and prioritize getting every student to school on time, I am utilizing this flexibility to shift school start times effective Wednesday, Sept. 20."

Start times will continue to follow the tier model the Board of Education approved in February and can be seen below as well as on the school's website.

"Adjusting start times is not a decision I made lightly. I know this is a big ask of families several weeks into the school year, impacting the times parents/guardians may need to be home, arrange for childcare, etc., however it is a necessary action. Our schools and staff will continue to be accommodating as students and families adjust to the new start and dismissal times," Martirano said.

"Additionally, we anticipate the first day of implementation will not be perfect as bus drivers, students, staff and families adjust to the new times and account for traffic patterns and other factors and I ask for your patience and grace as we begin this implementation. I am optimistic that based on the data and the additional slack in the schedule, we will see improvements in the on-time arrival compared to the current arrival schedule," he said.