Bus plans for Millstone students rolling along
District to have more information on private school runs in July
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Starting and ending times for the district's schools will change come September.

At the June 9 Board of Educationmeeting, Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue said that the middle and primary schoolswould open 15minutes later and the elementary school would open 15 minutes earlier during the next school year.

The middle school will start classes at 8:10 a.m. and end the school day at 2:50 p.m. The elementary school will begin classes at 8 a.m. and end the day at 2:40 p.m. The primary school will start at 8:50 a.m. and finish at 3:30 p.m.

"We don't want the primary school students out later than 3:30 p.m.," she said. "We want them home by four o'clock."

Donahue said there would be decreased enrollment in the primary school next year.

Morning kindergartenwill begin at 8:50 a.m. and finish at 11:30 a.m. Morning preschool will start at 8:35 a.m. and end at 11:15 a.m.Afternoon kindergartenwill start at 12:50 p.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. and afternoon preschool will begin at 12:35 p.m. and end at 3:15 p.m.

Donahue said the school district has no control over the Allentown High School schedule, so that could not be changed.Millstone shares the high schoolwith the neighboring school district because it does not have its own.

Transportation information for all of the schools will be made available on the district'sWeb site and will also go out with the report card, among other notifications, according to Donahue.

Board of Education member Margaret Gordon, chairwoman of the board's Operations Committee, said the districtmade the schedule changes to be more creative, and to have more in-house bus runs.

She praised Business Administrator Bernard Biesiada for his decision to change the schools' schedules and called the move both economical and smart.

"[Biesiada] has given a new look at transportation, and creative ways in which we can all benefit, " Gordon said.

She noted that Biesiada has also made inquiries regarding the use of bio-diesel for the buses, which could result in more cost savings.

Biesiada said the district would have to outsource the middle and high schools' bus runs next year.

"We're beyond the point of no return," he said, referring to the possibility of getting inhouse routes for those schools.

Gordon said that information about the outsourced routes should be available by July 1.

Lack of transportation for the district's private schools was a major issue for the board last year. Gordon said the bus company for St. Rose of Lima School in Freehold has renewed its contract for next year. The district has also put out to bid the routes for Christian BrothersAcademy inMiddletown and Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. More information on the other private school runswould be available at the board's July 14meeting, according to Gordon.