11/15/2012 Rutland evaluates bus routes, may add one By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter Carl Fahrenwald The Rutland School Board is looking at the possibility of adding a fourth bus route to shorten student time on the road. Rutland Superintendent Carl Fahrenwald said that board members discussed changing the bus routes to allow for a fourth route "to more safely accommodate winter driving conditions." Fahrenwald said some students are getting on the bus at 7 a.m. and arriving at the school at 8:10 a.m., which leaves little time for breakfast. "We have some students on the bus for over an hour," he said. "We want that to be one hour or less." Fahrenwald said the longer routes will take even more time with winter road conditions. Fahrenwald said that busses currently pick up students in Brookings and Madison, and both routes also include side trips to pick up additional rural students. He will be evaluating whether the bus routes can be shortened by eliminating some of those rural stops. "The goal is to build in time when the weather gets bad," he said. Fahrenwald said that route changes and consideration of the purchase of another new or used bus will take place in December. In other news, school board members approved two open enrollment applications for new students starting in the spring. The board also approved a request from a family asking that two students return to their home district.

©Madison Daily Leader 2013