This school year, LMSD implemented later start times for all schools. For high school students, the start time was shifted from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m, with the school day now ending at 3:15 instead of 2:40 p.m. The goal of this change was to improve student wellness and mental health by allowing students to sleep more in the mornings. However, the new schedule has also presented new challenges, with a significant disadvantage being bussing.
Although the later start times had been recommended for years, concerns regarding transportation delayed their implementation until the 2024-2025 school year. Now, the district’s bussing system is being stretched, with buses arriving at LM after classes have started and some students waiting long periods to be transported home at the end of the day. These issues are due to several factors, including increased traffic at 8:30 compared to 7:30 and a shortage of bus drivers.
Bussing challenges are not new to LMSD. According to the district’s website, “even with the earlier start time in previous years, post-COVID, bus drivers have been difficult to find and the school district has often been short staffed, leading to buses arriving late or changing routes. While the later high school start time has amplified these issues, and added new ones such as more traffic and less time for buses to get from school to school, bussing has in recent years been a consistent problem for LMSD regardless.” The district has clearly seen transportation issues before and it seems the later start times have only facilitated the problems. This has a lot to do with the bus driver shortage, which has been a huge problem nationwide since the pandemic. The Supervisor of Transportation for Lower Merion School District, Uldis Vilcins, says, “The ongoing nationwide bus driver shortage still impacts us, mainly because we do not have the option to add another run if a bus runs late, and we must try to find other solutions and efficiencies that take longer to implement. We were able to hire about a dozen new drivers over the summer. Though we still have open positions, we are at a level that is allowing our system to function.” The bus driver shortage is a nationwide issue that has affected many school districts, including LMSD. These issues are amplified now that the new start time has been implemented.
While some students think the later start time is worth the bussing mess every morning, others feel the school district must resolve these issues to streamline the school day. From arriving at school and leaving school, there have been issues all around. Caden Arnold, a sophomore at Lower Merion, had trouble getting to school recently, saying that “because of all of the traffic on Montgomery, my bus driver took back roads that ended up taking us all the way to Suburban Square. I ended up getting to school at 8:30 and needed to stop at the locker room, so I was pretty late to class.” Arnold is not the only student experiencing this, as the LMSD website even states, “Some high school buses may arrive very close to or even after 8:30 a.m., when the high-school day begins.” People have also had trouble getting home in a timely manner. Stella Sommer ’27 says that while “leaving school the other day, my bus arrived really late to take us home and I ended up getting home 45 minutes after school ended. I have other activities and homework to do at home, so this was a big time waster. It’s a difficult change, since last year I would be home around three.” Sophomore Jordan Padersky said that “a couple times I needed to wait for my bus to get me from school for twenty minutes. It was not a good experience.” A Lower Merion bus driver confirms the issue of getting home by saying, “The worst problem is the mess in the afternoon, the first wave of buses is fine but the second two waves are always late.” These issues are clearly not going unnoticed by LM staff and students; they are a problem that the entire community wants to be solved.
Despite these transportation issues, some students report they have been benefitting tremendously from the delayed start times by getting more sleep, having more energy for every school day, and staying more focused in classes. Tori Lacassio ‘26 says, “Because of the new start time I have been getting more sleep and have been performing better in my classes.” For many, being able to apply themselves and stay engaged in class is worth arriving a few minutes late to school. Supervisor Vilcins is very confident that these transportation problems will be solved, stating, “We are reviewing where issues are arising and adjusting routes accordingly. I remain confident the system will run well once all these adjustments are implemented, but that implementation may take a few more weeks. In the meantime, I can assure you that our on-time performance is improving daily.” It seems everyone is in a state of hope that these problems will resolve soon and the district is simply in an adjusting phase at the moment. Regardless, LM will have to sit tight and wait as the district works to resolve this aggregated issue.
