BCISD will have three start times for campuses

The Bridge City school districts is making a major change in the times for school days for the 2023-24 schedule. The district will have three different start and end bells schedules. Previously, the district has had two different schedules.

The changes will help the district accommodate more bus routes for students. Adding one more start time will allow the district to have all regular, full-time bus drivers working each route. In addition, fewer students will travel together, plus the students will be riding with others closer to their age.

The high school and middle school will begin at 7:15 a.m. and end at 2:45 p.m. In the district's announcement about the changes, traffic on Texas Avenue in front of the high school was one of the problems the district has been facing.

Texas Avenue is also State Highway 87 and goes along the massive construction site for the new $8.5 billion Golden Triangle Polymers Plant.

"Due to shift change traffic added to the already high volume of traffic in front of the high school in the afternoon, allowing our staff and teen drivers to get home before the rush hour is the safest course of action," the district said.

The elementary school will begin classes each day at 7:55 a.m. and end at 3:25 p.m. Bridge City Intermediate will start school at 8:35 a.m. and end at 4:05 p.m.

The school district currently transports 1,100 students a day on buses that cover 14 routes. Of those students riding, two-thirds of them are in elementary and intermediate schools.

After an in-depth transportation study, the district identified major problems facing the bus program. The first one was keeping the number of licensed commercial bus drivers needed every day. The district also has had a steady increase in the number of students using the buses every day. Another problem the district has faced is that it is taking longer to travel each route because of the added numbers of children and increased traffic on roads.

BCISD is calling the different schedules "tiers" with Tier 1 being the high school and middle school times of 7:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Tier 2 is the elementary school from 7:55 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. Tier 3 is the intermediate school from 8:35 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.

The district is currently calculating details for the bus routes and stops for the upcoming year. In addition to the start times, the schools will need to determine what times they will open for students to come inside.