Poughkeepsie School District plans to reconfigure schools, offers busing to nearly 1,000 more students
Board members and families are calling the shake-up "monumental" and "a long time coming."
Poughkeepsie School District officials said they have figured out how to do something the district has not been able to do for 30 years: offer bus service to almost all elementary students.
This, along with a student-friendly school configuration, has board members and families calling the shake-up "monumental" and "a long time coming."
Roberto Clemente elementary student Chace Taylor, and his mother Chandra Richardson, were both excited about the overall plan Tuesday morning on their walk to school.
"It's finally happening," Richardson said, "being at one school at a time for an extended period of time, and they get transportation. I think that's a big issue in this district."
For generations, families have asked the district for steady transportation for more students.
The New York State Education Department funds daily transportation only for students who live more than a half-mile from their schools.
Students living just within a half-mile from school are expected to walk — rain, snow or shine — or find other ways to school each day.
Under a newly proposed transportation plan, whose details are still being worked out, 922 students who are not currently provided daily bus service will have it in the next school year.
The district is also reconfiguring four schools that each currently serve children in Kindergarten through grade 5.
The plan calls for two schools for kindergarten through second grade and two others for grades 3 through 5. The new system would prevent some students from having to shift to different schools every one or two years.
Poughkeepsie Schools Superintendent Eric Rosser has been meeting with a team of administrators planning routes and a campaign to fully inform families.
Rosser said Friday that keeping children from having to frequently change schools is better for parent-teacher relationships, morale among students, and the students' development.
The bus service, he said, could improve attendance which could lead to other improvements.
"It will also help in addressing student achievement," he said, "because sometimes when the weather is bad, parents take their agency and do not send their children to school."
Rosser said the district would cover most of the extra transportation costs with Child Safety Zone grants his team learned about from a consultant and state lawmakers representing the area.
The district had not previously pursued the grant money which is provided through the state Department of Transportation, Rosser said.
The school and busing reconfiguration plans must next be approved by the New York State Education Department.
Then voters will decide on the two measures in the annual May budget election.
Rosser was confident Friday the changes would be approved, and plans for them to go into effect in the 2025-2026 school year.
