MENU
SEARCHForty-eight schools adopt new bell times as part of a Chicago Public Schools plan to cut transportation costs. The district is facing a $1.1 billion operating deficit.
Lincoln Park High is one of 48 schools that have adopted new bell times in a Chicago Public Schools plan to cut transportation costs.
CHICAGO — Forty-eight schools here have adopted new bell times as part of a Chicago Public Schools plan that is expected to cut transportation costs by $5 million.
The plan originally had 82 schools shifting their bell times for a savings of $9 million, but the district agreed to revert the bell times at 34 of those schools after hearing concerns about the changes from families and educators.
“By engaging principals and learning about the many unintended consequences the changing bell times caused, we decided to rescind those changes that had a negative impact on schools,” said Frank Clark, president of the Chicago Board of Education. “These changes reflect a collaborative approach that both appreciates our fiscal challenges but still puts children first.”
Forty schools adopted the new times, and eight schools agreed to another change. The rest of the district’s 664 schools will keep the bell times they had in the previous school year.
Chicago Public Schools officials said that district staff members worked with principals from each affected school to develop a schedule that would maximize savings while addressing the needs of the school communities.
“Every dollar we save by staggering school bell times and streamlining transportation services next school year is one more dollar we don’t have to cut from our classrooms,” said Forrest Claypool, CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
The district is facing a $1.1 billion operating deficit due to declining state educational funding and a broken pension system, officials said. The plan to stagger bus arrival times stemmed from an analysis that showed Chicago Public Schools’ transportation costs far outpacing those at other large, urban districts.
The average cost for the Chicago district to transport a student is more than triple the median cost for districts with more than 100,000 students, according to data from the Council of Great City Schools. Chicago pays an average of $4,450 per student for transportation.
The district’s bell time changes are part of a broader $200 million in cuts to central office, operations and programming.
Stop bidding everything and try a simpler way. Here's how cooperative purchasing can streamline purchases while maintaining compliance. Sourcewell breaks down the process in this episode of The Route, sponsored by IC Bus.
Read More →
The alternative transportation company expands its services to traditional yellow buses with the launch of a new division focused on helping school districts optimize their routes.
Read More →
Roberts, 35, serves as the lead IT application engineer for vehicle electrification at First Student, where he helps shape scalable, real-world EV infrastructure to support student transportation.
Read More →
Swazer, 29, serves as director of transportation at Puyallup School District, where he champions student wellbeing and inspires the next generation of industry leaders.
Read More →
Dubas, 38, serves as sales manager and safety advocate at IMMI, where she advances school bus occupant protection through industry education, OEM collaboration, and proactive safety policy efforts.
Read More →
Kramlick, 30, runs operations for TransPar in Hawaii, where he also showed dedication while helping Maui recover from the recent wildfires.
Read More →
Moore, 32, grew up around the school bus, leading him to the classroom and eventually inspiring high-performing teams while bringing operations in house (twice).
Read More →
Baran, 38, serves as transportation supervisor at Odyssey Charter School in Delaware, where he leads daily operations with a focus on safety and professional growth.
Read More →
Maybee, 36, leads transportation operations for Denver Public Schools, where he is advancing equity, efficiency, and cross-department collaboration to improve student access.
Read More →
Higgins, 38, serves as director of industry engagement at TAT (Truckers Against Trafficking), where she equips school transportation professionals with the tools to recognize and report human trafficking.
Read More →
