In an effort to cut transportation expenses, the Lake Orion School District is implementing a hub and shuttle busing plan for focus schools this fall.
The district’s focus schools include Carpenter, Orion Oaks and Stadium.
All focus school students in one of three busing areas will be picked up on the same buses and driven to their ‘hub? school (one of the focus schools).
Students attending the other two focus schools will then be transported to those schools via a shuttle bus.
Kids involved in Blanche Sims Young Five Program will also be picked up on focus school buses.
Each focus school will transport its own students home in the afternoon.
The new system will eliminate up to three elementary buses traveling through the same area at different times in the morning.
Blanche Sims, Pine Tree, Webber and Paint Creek buses will pick up their own students as well as private and parochial students in the morning.
As in past years, private and parochial students will then be shuttled to their own schools. In the afternoon, the process will be reversed for transportation home.
According to LO Transportation Director Jim Farrand, the shuttle will be clearly marked to help students find the correct bus.
Because of the new system and the reduction of bus stops, LO School Superintendent Dr. Craig Younkman is asking parents to be patient for a couple of weeks.
‘Time is not a consideration. We just want to make sure students get there,? he added.
Farrand said post cards with a child’s bus stop information are being mailed to homes this week. He indicated at the school board meeting on Aug. 11 that the bus schedule is still being fine-tuned.
The transportation department now has a website to acquaint parents with information about the school district’s transportation services. The site also provides district guidelines and procedures related to bus routes and bus stops.
Visit: www.lakeorion.k12.mi.us/transportation/transindex.htm.