Brookhaven School District Transportation Director Eric Stokes has started off his first full school year running BSD’s transportation department with some changes.

     BSD’s 31 busses travel 1,326 miles per day and transport around 1,500 students to and from school. Stokes said some modifications to routes and procedures with the district’s busses aim to reduce costs in the long run.

     Specifically, leaders are reducing the number of stops per route for busses by having them stop once near a group of homes. This move lets several students get on or off the bus at once time and also reduces idle time for the busses.

     “Any time we can shut that bus down and cut down on idle time is a proven way that we can save some money,” said Stokes.

     Brookhaven Superintendent Dr. Lisa Karmacharya said the transportation changes aim to make every dollar the district spends count.

     “It’s for general efficiency across the district,” she said. “We have an obligation to be fiscally responsible with the taxpayers’ money, and that’s one way to do that.”

     BSD is also working to maintain the one-mile rule.

     “State law says that children within the district can be denied transportation if they live within a certain distance of the school, with a few stipulations,” said Stokes.

     The law allows schools to pick up children living within that distance, but does not force them to. Things that would exempt students from the one-mile rule are if students have to cross a multi-lane road, are handicapped and other factors.

     Karmacharya said the one-mile rule is something that has existed for some time.

     “We did this last year as well, so I think people are very accustomed to this rule across the state,” she said. “It’s been done for a long time.”

     Karmacharya said the rule has a minimal impact and the district is always focused on safety.

     “To my knowledge it does not affect many children in the district,” she said. “Our goal is to err on the side of safety for the children.”

     Stokes said every year presents a new challenge with transportation, and this year has been no different.

     “We’re trying to establish our routes and route times,” he said. “Each year you get some kids that may not have been on the route the previous year. Each day we gain kids and lose kids that move from one route to another.

     “Right now we’re trying to move into consistent routes,” he continued. “We hope in the next few weeks we can get that in place and you can see some consistency in transportation.”

     Stokes said he knows the early-year changes with routes and busses can be frustrating for students and parents, but everyone with the transportation office thinks it will be for the better.

     “We appreciate the community’s support with their patience,” he said. “All in all it’s for the benefit of the district.”

     BSD performs a monthly count on their busses to determine the number of children they drop off and pick up each day, according to Stokes. He said this helps prevent overcrowding on busses.

     “That way when we get the readouts we can determine if we can move a bus to another location to prevent overcrowding from happening,” he said.

     Stokes took office as transportation director in January.