Consultant to consider bus route efficiencies in Minooka school districts

An outside consultant will soon review bus routes in Minooka Community High School District 111 and Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 and potentially recommend efficiencies.

At its most recent regular monthly meeting, District 111’s board of education approved the transportation consultant’s hiring. Colorado-based School Bus Logistics will be overseeing the review at a cost of $45,400.

Superintendent Robert Schiffbauer said School Bus Logistics’ imminent review of current protocols – which will take place over several months – will bring an “unbiased” and “fresh set

“We’ve got to find a solution, and we need someone that thinks that way – thinks a little outside the box – to tie these routes up and give us that help we need,” Schiffbauer said at the March 19 board meeting.

District 111’s approval of the contract comes on the heels of District 201’s approval on March 17 of an intergovernmental agreement with their high school counterparts for busing in the road ahead.

Under terms of the agreement, the two districts will share bus fleets and workforce, with all transportation personnel being District 111 employees, beginning this fall. Previously, both districts only shared administrative personnel.

While there will be less autonomy, Schiffbauer said District 201 will remain a partner with District 111 on all busing-related matters.

“It’s not a takeover,” Schiffbauer said of the intergovernmental agreement. “We’re working together, we bargain together. It’s still the two districts, with their administration and our administration.”

There are a number of drivers behind the top-down look at busing between the two districts. The post-pandemic bus driver shortage issue that has been a nationwide trend has occurred as well in Minooka and is one factor.

Speaking solely about the high school, Schiffbauer said some students have to endure long wait times. He described them as “significant” in some instances, amid a situation that is ripe for review.

In addition to approving the consultant agreement, the District 111 board of education and Schiffbauer discussed bus lease bids for the upcoming school year at the March 19 meeting.

The current proposal calls on leasing six buses – four for District 111 and two for District 201 – although specific details are still being reviewed. Diesel-powered buses reportedly have skyrocketed in cost in recent years. As an alternative, gas-powered buses are being considered.

“There are some other districts that have started to switch,” Schiffbauer said. “They do a similar thing that we do, where we lease and give back. Diesel – yes, they last longer, but when we’re giving them back after a handful of years, it could be just as cost effective for us to go with the gasoline bus.”

In other business March 19, the District 111 board:

• Discussed with administrators a potential adjustment to block scheduling, particularly at the south campus for freshmen and sophomores.

While no action has been taken, administrators are proposing a combined English and math block that would give high schoolers in the lower grades the opportunity to have the core subjects five days a week, rather than staggered under the current scenario.

• Heard an update from Schiffbauer on House Bill 1237 in the Illinois General Assembly. As proposed, the legislation would amend the statewide school code and prohibit the use of Native American names, logos and mascots.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to advance further – at least as of right now,” Schiffbauer said. “But I think this is a piece of legislation that we will continue to see come back.”