North Allegheny reduces number of bus stops

Reducing the number of bus stops in North Allegheny School District for 2024-25 should result in shorter travel times and cost savings for the district, according to discussion at the June 12 school board meeting.

Parents were notified of the pending changes via a June 13 email from Scott Mergen, director of transportation at North Allegheny.

“We’re trying to make more efficient bus routes and, if possible, lower the number of buses required to service each school,” Mergen said.

Superintendent Brendan Hyland said a parental survey on transportation conducted in September revealed that a number of families were not pleased with long bus rides for their children.

Mergen said he wants the district to use fewer contracted, outside services, potentially saving quite a bit of money.

The changes involve eliminating some bus stops where it is feasible and safe. In the email to parents, Mergen said multiple factors were considered, including the distance to stops, walking routes and safety considerations.

The transportation department has finished completing bus stops changes in the elementary routes and has eliminated an average of 15 percent of stops.

Between the seven elementary schools, the transportation team was able to reduce the number of buses by eight so far. Carson Middle School was reduced by four, as of the June 12 meeting, and the team is working on the other two middle school routes.

Mergen said they anticipate relaying bus stop information for the next school year as early as Aug. 1 or the first business day of that week.

No changes are planned for the transportation staff.

“I don’t want to reduce the number of drivers we have,” Mergen said. “I would rather we would bring some of the work that we’re paying the higher premium for back in-house.”

School board director Michael Weninger said the cost savings can be significant. When he questioned North Allegheny finance director Kermit Houser if the cost for contracted work was around $200,000 last school year, Houser said it exceeded that. Weninger said the outside work actually “overran” the 2023-24 budget though outsourcing contracted transportation.

“It’s very significant dollars that this could have an impact to the positive next year,” Weninger said.

Board director Libby Blackburn commented on the safety aspect

“I like our children being driven by our drivers who we’ve hired, who we know who we’ve done background checks for and everything, even the children who choose to go to a different school,” she said. “They’re our North Allegheny residents and our children.”

Elizabeth Warner, school board president, has children in the district and “personally looks forward to my children’s bus stop being further away,” she said, commenting that the three stops on her street alone were not needed.

She was happy that the communication about the stops is going out so far in advance of the start of the new school year.

“This gives time to resolve any safety concerns from parents,” she said. “Great bonus to have our students spending less time on the bus and save us money and I have only heard great things about the improvements to our transportation department over the year.”

Hyland said the board will be given another presentation at its Aug. 7 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the board room at the Central Administrative Offices, 200 Hillvue Lane, McCandless.