With the new school year comes new start times and bus schedules for Hood River County School District students.
Sept. 2 is first day of school for most students in the county.
Last spring, HRCSD Board of Directors decided to stagger start times to reduce bus routes at all sites as a cost saving measure. The district projected it would need seven fewer routes by staggering start times for an approximate savings of $142,000 annually, the savings coming from maintenance and parts, employee salary and benefits and the avoidance of purchasing an additional replacement bus each year.
Look for the 2014-15 bus schedules in the Aug. 27 edition. (This is an update to the schedule published in the July 23 paper.)
Cindy Sim, HRCSD transportation supervisor, expects the changes to go smoothly, although she said some hiccups are bound to occur.
“Any time there’s change, there’s going to be some predicaments and hurdles,” she said, “but we think we’ve ironed all those out.”
What will help is that the majority of bus stops haven’t changed, she said.
All elementary schools will now start at 7:40 a.m. and run until 2:10 p.m. Hood River Middle and Wy’east will run from 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., and Hood River Valley High from 8:40 to 3:30 p.m. Late Start Mondays will push start times at each school up one hour.
Breakfast will continue to be served each morning at all sites. For Parkdale, breakfast begins at 7:10 a.m., and at 7:15 a.m. for all other elementary schools. At the high school, breakfast begins at 8:05 a.m., and at 8:20 a.m. at both middle schools.
The bus schedule has similarly changed. There will be no transfer busses at the elementary level (although busses will transport students from May Street and Westside to the neighborhood behind Rosauers, since each side of the street is in a separate boundary area).
For high school students, there will be transfer busses available at both Hood River Middle School and Wy’east Middle School each afternoon.
The night activity bus will leave Hood River Middle at 5:45 p.m., Wy’east at 5:50 p.m., and Hood River Valley High at 6:05 p.m. EXCEL Plus busses will run at 4:45 p.m. from Cascade Locks, Mid Valley and Parkdale.
Sim encourages parents and caregivers with questions to call the HRCSD Transportation Office at 541-354-1388, or the child’s school — all school secretaries have the new schedule information. There is also information on the district’s webpage at www.hoodriver.k12.or.us.
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