Change In Start Time For 2022-2023 School Year In South Brunswick

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — After wrestling with transportation woes for most of the school year, the South Brunswick School District has decided to make a change to school start times for the upcoming academic year.

During the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, BOE members approved the recommended school start and end times for the 2022-2023 school year. The decision was then relayed to the community by Superintendent Scott Feder in a letter on Friday.

Here’s what the schedule will look like:

• MS Music – 6:50 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. start
• High School – 7:35 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.
• Middle Schools – 8:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• All 7 Elementary Schools – 9:00 a.m. – 3:35 p.m.

Currently, elementary schools have different start times.

“This decision did not come easy and one of the outcomes that you will hear more about by viewing last night’s presentation was that we had to align all elementary schools to begin and end at the same time,” said Superintendent Scott Feder.

“This resulted in a significant shift to the start and end times for the families and staff of Brooks Crossing/Deans and Indian Fields/Dayton.”

One of the most challenging pieces of this project was addressing the childcare issue, Feder said during the presentation.

Moving five elementary schools to an early start time would result in the families seeing an increase of $1,500 per year on childcare expenses. Meanwhile, two elementary schools moving to a later time will have a lesser financial impact, said Feder.

School bus driver shortages have had a rippling effect on schools, students, and families across the country. This issue is not unique to South Brunswick alone. In Bridgewater, the school district said there may be days where particular routes are not staffed. The Edison School District was forced to cancel around 31 bus routes last year due to the driver shortage.

Many schools in at least 11 states were forced to seek assistance from the National Guard.

In a bid to address the shortage, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission announced last month that applicants trying to get a school bus driver's license will no longer be required to take the "under-the-hood" portion of the exam for a limited period of time. This temporary waiver will be in effect through March 31.

All other components of the written and skills test will remain.

Back in September, Feder informed the community about the bus driver shortage and had asked eligible community members to apply.

Since then, the school district has been looking into the matter. The district put together a committee of students, staff, parents, Board members to go through various options.

The goal of the Transportation/School Start Time Committee was to manage the fiscal impact of transportation, decrease route package and explore to option of getting a late start time for the high school.

Without changes to the bus routes and timings, the transportation cost for the school district was estimated to increase by $2,000,000, said Feder during his presentation on Thursday. “We cannot manage a $2 million additional cost for transportation right now,” he said.

In the survey conducted by the school district, 46 percent of high school students preferred no change to school start time or opted for a 10-to-20-minute delay. Meanwhile, 52 percent of students preferred a 30-to-60-minute late start time. Even 70 percent of community members preferred a late start time for high schoolers. But the upcoming change gives them only a 10-minute delay.

Late start time for the high school was not a viable option because the district is in a transportation “crisis,” explained Feder.

To view the entire presentation and get an idea of how the decision was made, click here.

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