Springville-Griffith Institute

Dear Middle School and High School families, 

I’m writing to you today about a change we will be making to the SMS and SHS dismissal times. The change will become effective on Monday, November 16th. The need for this change stems from the difficulty we have had getting our secondary students dropped off in a timely manner each afternoon so that buses can return to CES and SES for the dismissal at those schools. While our timing in the afternoon is challenging each year, the configuration of bus runs this school year has our buses running later than normal, with some buses pulling into the elementary schools after dismissal time. Our number one priority is always safety, and so we want to make our dismissal procedures, particularly for our youngest students, as safe and consistent as possible.

With that, we are going to be making some slight adjustments to select non-instructional times at the middle school and high school, which will result in both of those schools dismissing four minutes earlier. Instructional time in each building will remain as it is currently.

You may be asking, “What difference does four minutes make?” In the world of school transportation, it can make a substantial difference. We anticipate that this change will allow most of our buses to arrive at SES and CES and safely park before students exit the building. It will also offer some buffer time for days when the weather and road conditions are less than desirable.

In terms of secondary drop-off in the afternoon, you can anticipate that your middle and high school students will be arriving at their stop about four minutes earlier than they currently are.

We appreciate your understanding as we work to solidify the timing of our transportation operations. I also want to take this opportunity to express gratitude for our bus drivers, who work tirelessly each day to keep our students safe on their way to and from school.