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Practice Bus Runs a Success! Preparing to Roll on September 8th!

Practice Run - buses around the loop in front of Oak Ridge

By Dr. Richard Canfield, Superintendent

The trial bus runs to SHS/STEM Academy, Oak Ridge and Forestdale were completed on Thursday, August 13.  I extend my appreciation to First Student for working with us to test the bus routes with the new school configuration in place.  I attended the mock drop off at each of the campuses and all buses ran on-time.  Additionally, we tested the bus lineup patterns at the schools for dismissal time.  The sight of 20 buses on the road and at the schools was surely a harbinger of fall and the start of school.

Special thanks to all of the school bus drivers.  It was fun to see them arrive with smiles as they reported in to local manager Mo McLeod.  The drivers are among the unsung heroes as they drive some challenging Cape roads to pickup and deliver students safely and efficiently.

Also on site at each campus were the administrators as they recorded arrival times and had the opportunity to see how the buses would arrive in the morning and how they would line up for the afternoon departure.

The district and First Student thank the Sandwich Police Department for their help in notifying drivers of the test runs.  Understandably, there were still some early morning drivers who wondered why a school bus would be stopping and opening the door with no children at the stop to board! The test runs are not as accurate as the actual runs with students boarding, but it is the best approach to calibrating the timing of the system.

We always appreciate the patience of commuters as they need to get to work, but the safety of the children is our priority.  Buses do have rear bumper signage that reminds drivers to stay 100 feet behind the bus.  If they can’t see both bus mirrors they are following too closely.  All buses have dash cameras to record any incidents with vehicles that fail to follow the law.

Additional information about transportation will be published over the next few weeks to keep parents informed, including the bus routes which will be published in The Sandwich Enterprise and in Sandwich Learns Together.