In an effort to save the district money in relatively challenging economic times, the Wilton Public School District is encouraging parents to let them know if their children won’t be using the bus.

“We’re inviting parents who know they’re not going to use the bus service to opt out so we can get as accurate of a count per bus as possible,” Wilton Schools Superintendent Kevin Smith said last month.

In preparing this year’s budget, Smith worked into his numbers a $190,000 savings that would come from consolidating bus routes.

“STA has been working on rerouting busses all summer,” he said.

STA is Student Transportation, Inc., which also does business as Student Transportation of America and also Student Transportation of Canada. A New Jersey-based bus contractor, it’s advertised as being the third largest school bus transportation provider in North America.

The district has worked with the company since 2012, after previously contracting with First Student. That change brought a fleet of new busses in 2012 and more than one contract renewal since that time.

The district’s total transportation costs last year were $5.1 million, with a slight total increase budgeted for 2024-25. The basic contract is $3,176,366 this year, versus $3,258,920 last year. Other general transportation costs include around $1.5 million in special education transportation for students traveling both in and out of district, as well as more than $300,000 for diesel fuel paid for by the district.

“After engaging with a transportation consultant, we’ve made plans to consolidate several routes across each tier, which enables us to to take two buses out of service and reduce the contract with STA by $190,000,” Smith wrote on Feb. 15, 2024, in his revised proposal for the 2024-25 budget.

Smith emphasized that, although the intention was to reduce the ridership numbers in order to augment route consolidation, as it is required by law the district must provide transportation. Therefore, even if parents have their children opt out from riding the bus for a period, they can always get them back on a bus route in the future.

“It just means, you know, you’re alerting us that you don’t intend to use the bus,” he said.

“If it turns out you need to use the bus, all you need to do is call or write, and we’ll accommodate you,” he said. “That’s our obligation.”

“We took two busses out of service,” he said. “And I think it’s going to be fine.”

While Smith said, as every year, he expected the first couple of school days to present some glitches regarding the bus routes, arrival and drop-off times, new geo-mapping software that will be used by drivers will help reduce some of the inefficiencies they’ve seen in years past.

“We should have a better, more efficient system for mapping the routes,” he said.

Personalized bus information is available through PowerSchool in the Parent Portal Account. Families opting to not utilize bus transportation for the 2024-25 school year are asked to complete an opt-out form, which can be found online. Bus service may be requested at any time during the school year by emailing the Transportation Office.  A bus stop will be assigned as soon as possible, but no later than within two- to 3 days after the family notifies the district.  

Issues concerning busses can be addressed by contacting the Transportation Office via email or by calling 203.834.4874.