Libertyville Dist. 70 changing bus schedule

A 15-minute change in bus schedules is expected to save Libertyville Elementary District 70 big money.

Spreading out the timing of the routes at the district's four elementary schools will allow Lakeside Transportation to operate with fewer buses and result in a $105,000 savings to District 70 over the next three years.

The new contract recently approved by the school board means that beginning Aug. 23, the school day at Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor and Rockland schools will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 2:45 p.m., 15 minutes earlier than the current year.

Hours at Highland Middle School will remain unchanged, starting at 8:50 a.m. and ending 3:35 p.m.

The revised "tiering" system was suggested as an alternate bid by Lakeside. By trimming the number of buses from about 33 to 24, the Waukegan-based company became the low bidder. Lakeside has been busing District 70 students the past five years.

"It was pretty straightforward," said Kurt Valentin, assistant superintendent of finance and operations for District 70.

"It was an opportunity to save money without making a drastic change," he added.

But there will be a domino effect. St. Joseph Elementary School, a private school in Libertyville that receives bus service via District 70, will begin its day a half-hour earlier, at 7:30 a.m.

The new contract also will mean a change in scheduling for Libertyville High School, which had shared service with District 70. The high school will be on its own next year in terms of busing.

The Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 school board also recently awarded a new contract to Lakeside, but with a condition that cost savings be explored.

"We still are negotiating our routes at this point to bring down our costs," said Jasmine Dada, assistant superintendent for business at District 128.

The high school currently has 52 bus "runs," which equates to 26 routes to and from school. Changes being considered could eliminate about four routes, she said.

Intramural sports, band and orchestra classes, foreign language classes, and clubs will not be affected by the school time change, according to District 70.

Superintendent Guy Schumacher said the change is worth the savings, which is about the cost to employ one teacher for three years.

Unlike at some other schools, District 70 has not had to resort to cuts to balance its $39.2 million budget, although because of a dip in enrollment, some positions were not filled when teachers retired.

The district for a second year froze the supplies budget to its buildings, but there were no personnel cuts, according to Valentin.

The 2010-11 budget will be approved in September. Whether there will be a deficit to contend with is unknown, pending the status of state payments. State revenues account for about 8 percent of the budget.