Faced with a sizable reduction to its budget, the RTSD Transportation Department undertook a major revision of our districts routing system for the 2010-2011 school year. Student safety is our guiding standard, and all routing change is reviewed with this in mind.

As we begin the 2010-2011 school year, the RTSD Transportation Department addresses the same financial realities that have impacted other departments in the school district. In the case of the transportation department, we have been required to reduce our expenses by $185,000, based on the 2009-2010 transportation budget.

We have examined all of the departments expenses to determine potential cost savings. As an example, to ensure sufficient funding for diesel fuel throughout the school year, we have made a commitment to eliminate about 10,000 miles from our annual mileage tally. This reduction is in addition to our successful anti-idling campaign.

To further reduce our costs, we took a number of steps in revising our routing system.

Whats New for 2010-2011:

• Student safety first: All routing changes reviewed with student safety as foremost guiding standard
• Increased number of students assigned to buses, while keeping within legal vehicle capacity standards
• Consolidated neighborhood bus stops; eliminated some home and convenience stops
• Increased use of shuttling non-public students to central locations for morning pickup and afternoon drop-off service. In some instances, changed shuttle locations to increase routing efficiencies and reduce overall ride times
• Altered bell times at Radnor Middle School and the RTSD elementary schools by five minutes to increase efficiency of bus routes
• Students will be supervised; programs/classes will not be impacted

Impact to Families and Students:

One of our goals during this process was to keep the impact of our changes to a minimum; there are outcomes that will have an effect on your students transportation.

• Afternoon departure from RMS and RTSD elementary schools about five minutes later than in previous years
• Increased number of students on buses
• Increased use of neighborhood stops instead of individual home stops
• Increased walk distance to bus stop locations

As we begin the new school year, we ask your cooperation in making the transition to a more cost-efficient system a smooth one. The changes made are in an effort to maintain the best possible transportation service for all Radnor residents.

Student transportation is a shared responsibility between our families and the school district. We look forward to working with you for a successful 2010-2011 school year.

If you have questions, please visit the transportation departments FAQs.

Sincerely,

Burt Blackburn