Dexter Community Schools adjusts its no-transport proposal

Dexter Community Schools are holding off on implementing a no-transport zone.

This past November, the school district discussed a proposal to create a no-transport zone within the city of Dexter and a small area near the high school (for high school students only).

In an update on the proposal, DCS Superintendent Chris Timmis said the district took in the feedback from the community and has adjusted the plan.

“In November and December, DCS hosted several community forums to discuss a proposed no-transport zone for bus service,” Timmis said in his message to the community. “The forums presented a great opportunity to work in collaboration with our community to address this dire district need. Based on community feedback, information gathering, and recent additional bus driver hires, we will not be instituting the no-transport zone until fall, 2024.”

In talking about the issues that led to the proposal, DCS said in November that it continues to feel the national shortage of bus drivers. Last year, DCS said it prepared a series of contingency plans to provide consistency of bus service for our families.

“Most of the contingency plans utilized and/or developed were handled internally and were created so as not to disrupt service to any students. This worked for the majority of last year and there were only two week we had to shut down a bus route. This year the situation is worse,” DCS said in the no-transport zone proposal that was presented in November.

This spring, Timmis said the DCS administration will propose an adjusted non-transport zone plan to the Board of Education.

Here some are of the highlights of the new proposal given in Timmis’ message:

• Students who live within a certain radius of their school will no longer be transported by bus.
• Young 5 through 4th grade students who live on the other side of Baker Rd. and Ann Arbor Street can be picked up from “hub” bus stops at three locations in the City of Dexter so they don’t have to cross the main roads. This is only possible in the morning.
• The District is working with the City to add a crossing guard at a location to be determined and staff will be working on lighting and signage across the campus to help students navigate safely, in addition to other safety measures and considerations such as adding more bike racks.
• To reduce vehicle congestion at dropoff, we are encouraging families to take advantage of our breakfast program and/or drop off their students earlier. Please see the attached flyer for times.

In the meantime, Timmis said DCS continues to aggressively recruit new bus drivers.

“We appreciate the thoughtful feedback that many of you shared to help us formulate this plan,” Timmis concluded his message. “Please stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, we wanted everyone to understand the basics.”

To learn more, go to https://www.dexterschools.org/departments/transportation/no-transport-zone.