March 19, 2024

Busing changes at Berg

Ongoing construction will force buses to find new route at middle school

Due to ongoing construction at Berg Middle School, buses will be in a new location when school starts next week. Newton Community School District administrators say the changes are necessary to ensure there is adequate space, although it means parents will lose access to popular pickup and drop off points at the school.

Previously Berg buses parked behind the school, with the front drive off Fifth Avenue East used for parents to drop off and pick up students. That area will now be used as a staging area for buses, with a new drop off and pick up location designated for parents off East 19th Street North on the west side of the building. The front drive will open to passenger vehicles between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to make it easier for parents to have access to the school during the day.

All fifth and sixth-grade traffic will be diverted to the rear of the school. Parents will use the large “U” drive-through area north and west of the school. From this drop-off zone, fifth and sixth grade students will enter the school through the doors north of the cafeteria. Seventh and eighth-grade students will continue to be dropped off at the east end of the building, walk along the sidewalk and enter the front doors.

During the morning time of 7:15 to 8 a.m. and the afternoon time of 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., non-school vehicles will be prohibited from using the Fifth Avenue turnaround in the front of the school.

Berg Middle School Principal Lisa Sharp said staff at the building has been working diligently to get the word out to parents about the changes.

“We’ve tried to get the word out to parents in multiple ways, by sending emails to parents, putting it on our Facebook page, I’m not sure what else we can do,” Sharp said.

Opening up the front drive to bus traffic has also meant that several trees in front of Berg needed to be trimmed back in order to accommodate larger vehicles.

Curt Roorda, the district’s supervisor of transportation, said in addition to the changes at Berg bus services were undergoing numerous changes ahead of the 2017-18 school year. In a memo posted on the district’s website parents are advised to be aware of changes to schedules.

Previously, the district ran four in town bus routes and 11 country routes. This year there will 10 in town routes, and every route has been reconfigured. Roorda said the district is still in the process of checking run times and finalizing schedules for the upcoming school year.

“We’re not quite ready yet, but we’re getting there,” Roorda said. “We’ll be ready by Thursday.”

The increase in bus routes is due to changes in district boundaries, and Roorda said while things may look a little different at first, he’s confident bus drivers will have things running smoothly in no time. Roorda urged parents to be patient as drivers get adjusted to new routes and new students.

“We really don’t know how it’s going to work out,” Roorda said.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com