I'm just going to give everyone a couple of minutes to log on to make sure they were able to get in and then I'll get started. Thank you. Give everyone one more minute and then I'll get started. All right, good evening and thank you for logging on tonight. We have about 25
people in right now. Uh I know this is a tough week, but I know there was a lot of questions being asked about our courtesy bus uh busing uh program this year that we're looking to get started. Uh I am recording this video and I will be able to get that shared with everyone
uh tomorrow and get that out for anyone that has to jump off or is not able to stay on. Uh so with redistricting beginning this year uh we sat down with the board and we thought of ways how we could help our families get to and from school. Um in New Jersey there are
specific laws regarding busing and when you are required to bus students to school. Uh that law is if you live with more than two miles away from a school uh then you are required to offer busing to students. Uh because Bagota is only a
mile long uh pretty much a mile in distance from one end to another. Uh all schools by law everyone is eligible to get to. Uh so we are not required to offer busing uh to our students. Uh the
only other reason why you would be required is if it's IEP driven for some special ed students. Uh we do have routes for those students. So courtesy busing is when the school district voluntarily provides free bus transportation
uh to those students who live in the state mandated distance from school less than the two miles. But there will be factors affecting the the busing. uh and this is the important thing to understand the number of buses available
bus drivers financial and staff. So right now as of today I have staff and bus drivers and buses but at any point in time if a bus breaks down if I lose a bus driver we would not be able to provide the busing. Uh so as of today we
can do that and we are committed to trying to do this to make life easier also to make the commute easier in the morning for other parents that are driving. So but I want everyone to be very clear that this is not mandated. This is something that we're trying to
do as a district to help our families. But if we are not able to do it then I will not be able to continue to do it because of those factors. So, for anyone that's going to want to do courtesy busing, I will be sending out an email
tomorrow with this information. You must register and there will be a link for you to register. I want to know all the students names, families names, uh schools, grades, and if we will be doing be before and after care. So,
busing will go from school to school. We're not doing pickups anywhere else. So there will be a pickup in the morning starting at Bixby and then that's those students will go to steam and then there will be a pickup at steam going back to Bixby. That is what we will be doing. So
so we have a clear understanding of that and I'm hoping I think I can see everyone can see this. Let me see if I can just make this a little bit bigger because I know most of you are on your phones. So our goal right now is for grades three through five. So if you are are uh
on the Bixby side and you have to go to Steam next year because grades three and five will be at Steen. We will have a pickup at the front of Bixby in the morning. By 7:45 I will have a
bus there and from 7:45 to 7:55 students will be able to get right on the bus. That bus will be leaving at exactly 7:55. Right? What is helping us is that with the different start times, no one should be coming to Bixby during that time
except staff. No student should be coming at that time. So what we will have is a staff member will be at the bus, not the bus driver, a staff member will also be on the bus checking students in. So when parents
you drop off, we're asking that you get your kid to the bus and you contact the teacher so that we know the staff member so that we know that you dropped your child off and we're going to check them in. You just can't drop your child off a block away and have them walk to the
bus. It is the responsibility of the parent to get the child to the bus and check them into the bus. Once the check all the checks come in at 7:55, we're going to leave. I'm going to have a staff member on that bus and
drive that bus to Steam. Our hope is that they could get there within 5 to 10 minutes. This is something new, so we're going to see how that goes. At that time, between 7:55 and 8:05,
students should be meeting at the entrance to Steam on Main Street. I will have a staff member there that will be checking students in. Again, parents are going to be required to walk their child down to the bus.
Stop the bus person and check your child in. What's going to happen is after that bus leaves from Bixby and goes to Steen, we're going to get to Steen now hopefully by 8:05 the latest.
Um, and those children are going to exit the bus and meet a staff member at the front entrance. And then those students that are waiting to get on the bus are going to go on the bus and go to Bixby. Again, we're going to make sure that the children that get on the bus get off the
bus and are checked to and from. After that, those students are now getting on the bus. There will be a staff member on the bus that's going to check them in that you when you checked in when you got there and will ride back to the school with them.
So, the morning session is pretty simple. Now, here's the key though. It is up to the parents to get the child to those times. If you are late, then you we cannot I cannot come back to pick up children. We're only able to do this one time. So, it's going to be important for
the parents to be on time and get their children to the stops and check them in. If you don't, if the teacher or staff member who will be checking them in does not have you checked off, then they did not come to the bus on time. So that's going to be pretty much the
morning session which is pretty straightforward. The afternoon session will be a little bit different because of the timing where students will be leaving Steen first. So 7:45 I believe is when the steam day Steen school day ends. They will be exiting and getting
riding onto a bus at 2:50. hopefully getting to Bixby by the gym entrance on Maplewood A is where parents are going to have to pick up their children. Now, third through fifth grade, I know parents can sign a waiver and students are allowed to walk home from there. So
that will be important that that is um signed ahead of time before school starts. But if not, a parent or a guardian or anyone on the contact list will be required to pick up the student at Bixby. After we drop off the students from the
ste from going back to steam, we'll then enter the bus and we will drive back to steam. Now the good thing is by that time the steam side should be cleared out. So, we will be able to drop off um on Orchard Terrace by the playground
area because most parents should have been gone already and they should be returning by 3:10 the latest I'm hoping and that will be a parent pickup or a guardian pickup because of the um age group there.
So, that in a nutshell is what we're looking to do. So, what I need everyone to understand that this is something that we have never done before. Um we are not uh you know we this is the plan that we put together right now to see
how this works. Uh there could be some different um hiccups along the way that we might have to make an adjustment. Uh we are working with the police to see uh their opinion on the matter. So, uh, if they're how if they have a suggestion on
a different route, uh, but we do have a working route where we're going to try and stay off the main roads to get the children to and from school. Um, I want to remind parents that um, any our buildings open 30 minutes before the
first bell each day. So, I believe Steam starts at 8:20. So, that means we have our breakfast program is available at 7:50. you're able to drop your child off at 7:50 in the morning for the breakfast program. Also, Bixby, you were able to
chop drop your child off at 8:00. So, you you have opportunities to get your kid to school earlier if you choose to. Now, here's a question I keep getting. If your child attends Bixby, they will be going to Bixby Afterare. They're
we're not busting them back to different aftercares. We want to keep the age groups together because it it helps us easier with the age groups. It's easier to have our 3, five kids together because we could do more with them and our prek through two we could do more with them in the afterare. Uh a
complaint that I do get about afterare is I got fifth graders with kindergarten kids and that's been a problem. So we're hoping that alleviates that. Um there's a question about prek. We will not there is no prek there is no prek busing. the
parents will be required to bring their children to school because you have to sign your child into school for prek. So, good question. You are not required to take So, I think the key is going to be is you have to notify the school if
you plan on going to afterare. I met with some of my administrators the other day about this. We have a list of every day who goes to afterare. So if they get on the bus in the morning, you are not required to get on the bus in the afternoon. You can go to aftercare and then the parent will be responsible to
pick them up. You can only sign up for PM busing. Yes. So on my form that I'm sending out tomorrow, it's going to specifically ask you AM only, PM only, AM, and PM. What days are you looking for? So I think the key is going to be
communication moving forward. and we might have to create um an email that you're making sure that we're contacting your school to let your schools know whether or not uh they need to get on the bus or not. The form will only be sent in the mail
if I'm sorry, digitally. If you have a problem doing anything digitally, you can come to the board office and we will help you fill that out. I'm just answering questions as we go here. So, if anyone has a problem uh filling out a form online, you can come to the board
office and we can help you here. Uh for anyone that uh uh and obviously our our forms are translated, but if anyone has problem getting on to the internet, you can come to the main uh to the main board office, which is right below the high school, and we will be able to help
you fill that form out. So, I just want to make sure everyone understands that we we have a lot of things going on right now. Bixby gym is under renovation. We're hoping that's done within a month. Uh the high school, that's only going to be affecting the elementary schools right now. But uh the
big speed gym is a big one right now. So we're redistricting. It's going to be a lot that they're not going to have their gym for the first couple of weeks of school. Yes. So bus. So, anyone's asking if you need tutoring after school, then they cannot get on the bus, then yes, they
would have to be picked up after um we would have to talk about that. That's something that I didn't think about with the tutoring, but that's something that I would talk about, which is not going to affect the first couple of weeks, but yes, I would imagine the parent would have to get the child after school. But then again, again, these are things that
are going to come up during the year that we're going to look at and see what we have to do to fix them. So, like I said, I I'm not going to get into it again about the grade realignment. This is something that we voted on. This was part of the referendum. Um that that we're past
that. So, when someone tells me because again, all my buildings are opened up 30 minutes before the start time. So that doesn't So that means we we created gaps in now. So high school and middle school are 8:15, Steen is 8:20, Bixby is 8:30.
You have 30 minute windows in between those times to get children to school. So I understand that might this might be a burden for some parents, but we're not going backwards. We're only looking forwards right now. So again, when someone says uh suggestions again, our building is open
for free. You can drop your child off 30 minutes before school starts and a staff member will be there. Yes, we will have afterare at Bixby and Steen. There is no prek and steam next year. It's only at Bixby.
So I when someone's asking about prek parking for families near steam, there is no prek at steam. Only grades three through five will be there. So I understand this is going to be new. I understand this is going to be a change for people. Um, but like I've said in the past, I've had to move students to
different buildings because of uh our grade numbers in certain grade levels and one building having 60 uh you know 56 third graders and another building having 40. Uh our numbers are going to be better. We're we're excited about it. We did the move already with the
teachers, all their equipment, their furniture, that's all been moved. So what I'm asking is our parents is that we start looking forward and not backwards. We're not, this is not changing this, this is not changing right now. We're moving forward with this and and we're trying to help with
this busing, courtesy busing right now to alleviate some of the traffic around buildings in the morning, but also help parents that, uh, are having a tough time getting their kids there. So, um, if there are any other questions, you can put it in the chat,
but if not, when I send my form out tomorrow, I can ask, uh, answer more specific questions on that form with parents. The link will be sent out tomorrow to all elementary parents with this information.
Yes, my understanding is that Alpha I mean Alphabet is definitely still our afterare program and um my understanding is you can register now if you would like and the the link is on our website. No, you do not have to be signed up for breakfast in order to be dropped off 30
minutes early, but it's not a bad situation to have your child there to get them uh breakfast in the morning. Uh, that's a good question about if you have to sign them in. I will find that that question out for you. I I have to
check with my principles on that. Yeah. So, I I would say for the for the first week or two, I know we're not going to be having tutoring after school and things like that. We're going to work out some logistics. We would we would definitely you're definitely going to have to be uh contacting the school
letting them know whether or not they should get on the bus after school. So, I I think we'll be able to create a form for you to say so that we can get a digital list each day. If your child's on the bus normally and they decide not to go on that bus that day, it could be
a simple phone call to the main office and we'll make sure that doesn't happen. So, I don't see any more questions going to come in. And I I I'll thank everyone for their time tonight. I know it's still the summer and we still got uh I think uh two weeks from today we start
school. So, we're very excited. There's a lot of great things going on. Obviously, our fields are about 95% complete. Our CTE building is just about done. Uh auditorium in the high school is under construction. Bixby gym is
under construction. All new security vestibules will be opening ready for the start of school. Uh so we're excited about that. So when the last two questions that I got, you will you will know that you
registered for busing because I will be sending emails. I'm requiring emails on this form. Um, so you will make sure you enter a good email and from that you will know that you were registered and we would let we'll let you know that we received it. So I'm going to let it sit
for a couple of days and then send out an email with information. All right. So this is going to be a new registration form, not the old form because the old form had a lot of different questions that I don't need answers to anymore. That was just to
gauge how many people were interested. So, uh, thank you very much for for coming. Enjoy the last two weeks before with your children. That time goes very fast. So, enjoy it. Thank you.