NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nashville Banner) — This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
Many of Nashville’s public school students return to the classroom Tuesday with a little extra time before the morning bell. With that comes another change: Metro Nashville Public Schools has adjusted many school bus routes and stops to accommodate the new start and end times that take effect this year.
As parents received notice about their new stops in the weeks before returning to school, some raised concerns that the bus stop locations are not safe and a further walk from home than expected. Several families told the Banner that they are unhappy with their new bus stops and worried about how their children will get to school safely. Some said that if they had known how drastically their bus stops would change, they would have voted against changing school start times.
Shakeya Bean’s daughter takes the school bus from their home in North Nashville to H.G. Hill Middle. She used to walk fewer than five minutes along the sidewalk in their neighborhood to her bus stop. This school year, her new stop is a 15-minute walk away on Buchanan St. and 23rd Ave., along a busy road without a sidewalk.
When Bean saw the new bus stop, she thought it was a mistake and emailed the district’s Family Information Center, stating that the stop is on a dangerous street with no walking area. The center confirmed her stop and said that it could not be changed unless there is an immediate safety concern.
“I work as a nurse, and so now I have to be on the phone with her until she gets on the bus, and then when she gets off the bus and she's walking home, to make sure that she gets into the house safely,” Bean said.
Khalia Manning used to watch the bus arrive from her porch. Her children attend Park Avenue Elementary, where her son is entering kindergarten. Their new bus stop is closer to a seven-minute walk across train tracks, in an area that she feels is unsafe for her young children.
“I'm very concerned about my kids’ bus stop being over there,” she said. “God forbid if a train comes or something, they’re 5 and 10. They're not going to know what to do.”
The district has been responding to some of these requests. One parent shared that her school principal worked with the district last week to change their stop.
Transportation was a key consideration when the district conducted a monthslong study last winter of what it would take to change school start times. Community feedback reflected widespread agreement that the 7:05 a.m. high school morning bell was too early. After two surveys, town halls and focus groups, the MNPS board voted unanimously in February to change start times.
High schools will begin 20 minutes later and run from 7:25 a.m.-2:25 p.m. Elementary schools and Early Learning Centers will open at 8:10 a.m., with elementary schools dismissing at 3:10 p.m. and ELCs at 2:10 p.m. Middle school times will not change, remaining at 8:55 a.m.-3:55 p.m.
Elementary, middle and high school start times are staggered to allow bus drivers to complete multiple routes each morning and afternoon. Nashville faces a school bus driver shortage, as does the country.
With the new start times, the amount of time between each tier of routes has decreased from 55 to 45 minutes. The district adjusted bus routes and consolidated some stops to ensure that drivers can complete their routes in this smaller time window.
MNPS communications chief Sean Braisted said that there are “tradeoffs involved” in pushing school start times. The distance from homes to bus stops has increased on average from 0.1 to 0.2 miles, which is about two city blocks, he said, adding that the district is still below the national average for maximum bus stop distances.
“We will continuously refine routes and stops as we go along, with also the understanding that we want to make sure that we get kids to school on time,” he said. “We have to balance that out, but safety is always going to be a priority when it comes to making sure that kids can get to the bus stop and home safely.”
Braisted encouraged families to call the Family Information Center with concerns about transportation and safety at (615) 259-4636.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell said that the latest round of WeGo service enhancements incorporated the new school start times and school bus service. All MNPS high school students, as well as middle school students at an MNPS optional school, can ride public transportation for free.
Shifting high school start times was part of O’Connell’s platform when he ran for mayor in 2023.
“The research is clear. Teenagers learn better, focus better and feel better when they get more rest in the morning,” he said, calling the start time change a “small shift backed by science that adds up to a better start to every school day.”
A full list of schools with their schedules is available online. Families can look up their bus stop and route through the Find My Bus search tool, and download the Versatrans MyStop app to track their bus route and stop times.
“As with any change of this size, we know the first few days may require some patience as everyone gets to learn new routines,” Braisted said. “We encourage families to plan a little extra time in the first week, especially if they’re driving their children to school.”
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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