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Monroe Public Schools

P r o p o s a l f o r g r a d e C o n f i gu r a t i o n
a n d s c h o o l u s a g e f o r 2 0 1 0 - 20 1 1
Accelerated Timeline of Closing a School
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Based on enrollment, a Monroe school


could be closed by 2014-2015.

Based on current enrollment and fiscal


constraints, the timeline for closing a
school is moved up to 2010-11.
What Does Closing a School Earlier Than Anticipated
Mean?
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The district can “fit” its students and
programs in existing spaces, but there
will be some compromises.
Transportation Parameters
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Transportation requirements for the proposed Early


Childhood Learning Center preclude this option
from being a consideration for the district. This
would be either too costly or have young students
travelling too early or late in the day.

Transportation can be addressed for moving 8th grade
to high school.
How Do Students Learn?
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TIER 1
Quality Instruction in
Classroom

TIER 2
Small group
intervention

TIER 3
More individualized
intervention
Elementary Schools K-4 2010-2011
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Elementary School Total Classrooms Grade Level Art Music Reading/ Computer Kinder-
Special Academy
Education/Interv
Monroe 24 17 1 1 4
en-tion 1 0
[all rooms used] [uses an open K
Stepney 30 20 1 1 5 2 1 in
room
[all rooms used] afternoon]
Fawn 38 22 2 2 7 2 1
Hollow
Total
[2 open
92 =
classrooms] 59 4 4 16 5 2
[2 open
classrooms]
Elementary Schools K-5 2010-2011
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Elementary School Total Classrooms Grade Level Art Music Reading/ Computer Kinder-
Special Academy
Education/Interv
Monroe 24 19 1 1 2
en-tion 1 0
[plus small [and smaller [uses an open K
Stepney 30 24 for Pre- 1
space 1 1
rooms] 2 1 in
room
K] [and smaller afternoon]
Fawn 38 28 2 2 3
rooms] 2 1
Hollow
Total 92 = 71 4 4
[and smaller
6
rooms] 5 2
[all rooms used]
Comparison of Facilities Usage
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Total Grade Level Intervention All other


All 3 Classrooms
92 Classrooms
59 Classrooms
16
[art, music, computer lab,
15
etc.]

elementary
All 3 Available
[2
920pen rooms] Utilized
71 6 15
preK-4
elementary
FH and 68 59 3 6
preK-5
Stepney
PreK-4 = 1,281
Close
PreK-5ME
= 1,584
preK-4
Could the District Close Monroe Elementary?
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The impact of limited facilities would


dramatically alter the quality of educational
programs offered to students if the three
existing elementary schools were merged
into two schools for 2010-2011.
Additional Space Needs
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Physical and occupational therapy


Speech therapy
Consultation/testing space
Intensive Behavior Services
Counseling Services

Each school has one staff room for meetings,
professional development activities, and also serves
as employee lunch room
Why Close Chalk Hill?
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CH is less flexible space for district – fire codes prohibit


kindergarten and grade 1 above ground level, grade 2
cannot be above second floor. Library and cafeteria are
on third floor limiting access to young learners.
While some renovations have been done over time [roof,
air handlers], the overall facility still has significant
issues to be addressed, e.g. heating system, single pane
windows, replacement of gym floor, etc.
Keeping all 3 elementary schools online provides more
options to district in the long run for grade level
configurations.
8th Grade Academy at MHS
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Begun planning meetings for implementation of 8th grade


academy.
Develop a mission statement and goals for new school
within a school at MHS.
Outline a strategic plan for implementation.
Maintain academic program of high integrity, address
developmental and social needs of 8th grade students.
Determine staffing for 8th grade academy.
Develop transportation plan for grades 8-12 together.


Superintendent’s Recommendation
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Do not utilize Chalk Hill School for preK-12 classes


during the 2010-2011 school year, retain grade 5
classes in each respective elementary school, and
move grade 8 to Masuk High School.
Monroe Public Schools
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Planning Student
Transportation for 2010-
2011

February 17, 2010


Transportation 2009-2010
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What worked?
What did not work?
Lessons learned for 2010-2011.
First Steps to Determining Busing
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Get correct list of all students entered into the system
before trying to determine stops and routes.

Avoid “garbage in, garbage out” that yields incorrect
routes.

Determine routes within certain parameters, e.g. no pick-
up before a set time in the morning, maximum time
students can be on buses, maximum loads of buses, start
times of schools, etc.
Summer 2009 – Bus Routes Had Not Been
Updated in 20 Years
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 Significant portion of student data was inaccurate in the


computer system – the database had some students who
had graduated or moved out of the district and had
omitted some current students living in Monroe – later
learned about 25% of data was incorrect.

 Local management of First Student Monroe Bus Yard had


never handled such an overhaul of the Monroe system and
underestimated the impact.

 Monroe Public Schools contracted for 24 buses on each of its


3 reconfigured tiers of busing.
Summer 2009 – Numerous bus stops were
obsolete or inaccurate
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Routes developed and delivered to district in early


August, later than promised.

Publishing of routes in mid-August created a narrow


window of time to address bus stop appeals before
school started. Many bus stop issues addressed
after start of school year.

Approximately 80 non-essential bus stops were
eliminated – every time the bus stops, it increases
the route time for all the students on the bus.

District Recruited Teachers and Other Staff
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Monroe Public Schools has no designated


Transportation Director for the district, as most
other districts similar to Monroe.

Teachers volunteered to ride Tier I buses for the first
day of school.

Teams of teachers and staff members in “yellow
jackets” volunteered to help on site at schools.

Bus Scheduling 101
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Planning for elementary students on buses


necessitates a seat for each child.

Planning for secondary students relies on good data
for predictive modeling for routes – meaning, which
students will be on the buses on a regular basis and
which will not. No high school plans for 100%
of its students to ride the buses each day.
Spring 2009, baseline data were gathered that
approximately 32% of Masuk students rode the
buses.
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Elementary Busing

 A seat for each


student

Elementary busing assumes that
Elementary
Busing is the all students
22 will take the bus and
Easiest plans a seat for each student each
Get solid data on your
 day. Routine absences of
students
Route buses most

students periodically reduce
efficiently to pick up all ridership, but are not taken into
students, allowing a seat
for each student consideration when planning
Some routes may get routes.
longer to fill buses to 

capacity and to achieve


efficiencies There is no chance an elementary
bus will be overcrowded as long
as the student data are correct.
Bus Stops are
Determined by the 23
Location of Current
Students
Where are the logical

clusters of students?
What students have

handicapping conditions
to create special bus
stops?
What roads are

dangerous and students


cannot walk to bus stop
and must be picked up at
their homes?
What age are the

students? All mid-day


kindergarten runs are Star = Bus Stop
door-to-door. Dot = Student

Elementary Bus 24
Routes – Plan for
100% of students to
ride buses

 Grade K 7 7
 Grade 1 12 12
 Grade 2 9 9
 Grade 3 6 6
 Grade 4 10 10
 Grade 5 9 9
 Total 53 53
 Plan for 53 students on
bus each day
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High School Busing

A seat for only Those


Students who show up
at the bus stops – But
not every student

High School Bus
Stops are 26
Determined by
Location of
Predicted Riders
Assumptions are made:
All grade 7 and 8 students

will ride the bus – assume


100%
All 9-12 students will ride

at a rate between 30% -


60%
Data regarding current

students must be accurate


Information about

ridership should be
gathered before routes are
determined
Chart Out Viable 27
Routes
While there may be 80+
students “officially” on a
specific bus roster, only 50
may actually ride the bus
Create projections of each

route - # total students vs. #


students who will actually
ride
 Grade 7 8 8
 Grade 8 9 9
 Grade 9 11 11
 Grade 10 13 13
 Grade 11 13 5
 Grade 12 21 7
 Total 74 53
 Plan for 53 students on
bus each day


Other Referring back to the previous bus
Assumptions route,28anticipating that on most
days, it would be anticipated that
There will be some
 this bus would run with
students absent each day
Some students will be

approximately 53 students.
driven to school by Periodic events could impact
parents
Some students will drive
 ridership: cancellation of all
themselves and others after-school activities, the period

of time between sports seasons,
severe weather, etc.


How Do You Figure Out Who Will Ride
High School Buses?
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Our district central office and Masuk staff together
called all juniors and seniors – about 600 phone
calls and asked if the students at these
homes would be riding the buses. [Seniors
with parking permits were not called.] This
information was provided to First Student for
planning routes.
First Day of School 2009
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 Data on which routes were built were not accurate.


 A significant number of drivers late to morning and
afternoon runs.
 Most buses did not have route numbers displayed.
 Instead of 24 buses on Tier I, the most difficult tier,
21 buses were routed by First Student – reducing
available seats by 180.
 More than 50% of high school students rode buses the first
day, reducing window of error for any bus to be
overloaded.
 Practice routes were not completed by all drivers before the
first day of school.
First Day of School 2009
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While the district communicated the challenges of the


Tier I and shared that buses might be full the first
day and that routes would need to be adjusted, our
families did not fully understand the impact.
No matter what system we have for the fall 2010, we
will need 2 weeks to reach a reasonable equilibrium
for high school routes. While the challenges of the
first day were more extreme than anticipated, they
were exactly what was communicated in advance to
all stakeholders.

First Day of School 2009
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Added stress of contractual early dismissal of


elementary schools for the first day of school. As
drivers and students learn routes, adding early
dismissal the first day stresses the system so that the
afternoon runs tend to be late.
The regular staff of Central Office worked extended
hours to respond to parent emails and phone calls.
Understaffing for the number of calls created
tremendous parent frustration.
First Day of School 2009
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Buses did not move with students sitting in the


aisles or standing up – drivers did not
compromise student safety.
First Day of School
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Requested urgent meeting with senior leadership of


First Student to address first-day issues.
The 21 buses of day 1 were increased to 28 to address
concerns of overcrowding immediately.
First Student Safety Officer assigned to assist with on-
site issues of routes, bus stops, and management.
First Student stepped up its resources and provided
extended days and Saturdays of re-routing
expertise.
At end of first two weeks, system was reaching
equilibrium of effectiveness.

Extra Buses Added Cost Nothing to MPS
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First Student accepted responsibility for the tough


start to our year and held our district harmless for
the added buses on Tier I.

The district reached its goal of saving 261K of reduced
bus costs this year, 2009-2010.
Current Status of Busing – Feb. 2010
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Current Status
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All tiers are working very well. Dismissal of


MHS, Jockey Hollow, and Chalk Hill have been
outstanding in terms of moving students out orderly
and efficiently for loading.

Buses now queue up in same order on Tier I each day.


St. Jude routes are long with 5 buses serving entire


town to pick up its students.


Current Status
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Tier I is operating with many less-than-full buses.



The district now operates a run of late buses that
serve both Masuk, Jockey Hollow, and Chalk Hill.

Late arrivals for Masuk and early dismissals of
individual schools continue to stress the
transportation system on these “unique” days where
the district is not in sync with its regular schedule.


Transportation for 2010-2011
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Tier 1 Grades 8-12 at MHS


Tier II Jockey Hollow Intermediate School & St.


Jude [St. Jude students will be picked up with JH and
then be shuttled to St. Jude on 2 buses – reverse at end of
day]

Monroe Elementary School

Tier III Stepney Elementary School



Fawn Hollow Elementary School
Preparation for this Transition
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Cleaned all data in database at First Student.


Encourage all kindergarten students to
register early.
The district will again call each current
sophomore and junior to ascertain who
anticipates taking the bus next year.
Preparation for this Transition
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“Tease” the 4 extra buses out of Tier I, one at a time


over the next 4 months. In trying to get the routes
as accurate as possible for the fall, the First
Student consultant has recommended we work to
reduce our fleet to 24 now versus waiting for
summer. This will reduce the adjustments to
routes over the summer. Since the current seniors
will be departing, all other 5 grades are currently
on this tier.

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Busing 2010-2011

Safe buses, smooth


rides
Getting Routes Done Early
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The district will work aggressively with First Student


to have first draft of new routes done by end of April
so there is adequate time to refine and adjust as
needed.

District goal of publishing routes for parents by early
July, providing time for any questions regarding bus
stops prior to the start of the new school year,
August 30th .
Goals for 2010-2011
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Maintain safety of all students.


Maintain efficiencies of 24 buses


required for each tier.

Save as many critical resources for the
classroom as possible.


Monroe Public Schools
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Utilization of creativity and


innovation supports the goal

of achieving quality education

within a framework of fiscal

accountability and efficiency.

Honoring the privilege of taking care


of 3,900 of Monroe’s finest!


Monroe Public Schools
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