Late Registrations Slow Milton Public School Buses

During the first two days of school, bus service for all six schools in the Milton Public Schools have been delayed. According to Transportation Director Pam Dorsey, the delays have been primarily caused by late registrations.

Below is an email Dorsey sent Thursday to parents, faculty and students in the Milton Public Schools.

I am working with the superintendent’s office to improve the timing of our school buses. This year we experienced events and situations, which have impacted the routes these first few days, including the aftermath of a hurricane and mechanical failure.  However, what hurt our smooth opening more than anything else is parents who were late registering for the bus. 

We began alerting parents to the importance of registering for the bus in an email last May, pointing out that all students must be registered each year, regardless of whether or not they pay for their pass.  Following that, there have been three additional emails, a mailing to all MPS homes, and a voice message alert reminding parents of the importance of registering by the July 15 deadline. Each of these offered the ease of registering online, by mail, or in person. 

However, there were less than 600 students registered by the July 15 deadline; last year we transported over 1,100 students.   I would like to extend a thank you to all the parents who complied with the registration deadline, and an apology that they have to suffer the impact of those who did not.

Since we must develop routes that accommodate students we must transport because they are in grades K-6 and live more than two miles from school, the routes change each year.  We must plan the routes with the student information available by late July. We cannot wait until late August to begin planning, lest we run short of time necessary to develop routes, then prepare, print and mail out passes.

By mid-August nearly 900 students were registered, and all were issued passes, mailed to their homes.  All the routes had seats to spare, and the computer had worked out that each had sufficient time to make all stops within the time frames required.  

But today there are nearly 1,100 students registered - almost 200 late registrants added in the past two weeks. That many students could have filled nearly for more buses, but we don’t have the financial ability to add four more buses. 

Since nearly all of them are students we are required to transport, we had to fit them in on the routes as established, adding more stops and packing some buses very full.  More students boarding buses take additional time and so does adding more stops. Buses planned to easily fit in the time schedule end up delayed at the Pierce Middle School and Milton High School level, which then impacts the next level of Collicot/Cunningham buses, and again the final level for Glover and Tucker buses.   

Late registrants means crowded buses running late to school.

Had we known the true number and location of students requesting transportation by July 15, I am confident that our buses would have run comfortably on time on all routes. If we could have closed the books on the buses July 15, everyone who got a pass would have been notified, within a five-minute window, of the time their bus would arrive. Now people want to know what time the bus should come, or they complain about the bus running so late that they have to drive their children, but it is late registration that is the source of the problem.

We are working on solutions, and your child’s bus may be involved; please check your child’s backpack for information regarding changes to her route or stop. Since we use almost every bus for three runs morning and afternoon, a complication on one route impacts two others. We will continue to make adjustments and ask for your patience and cooperation while we smooth out the rough spots.

I appreciate your taking time out to read this email and understand why we are experiencing problems.  Next Spring, please remember how important it is to register on time.