Charter schools set to operate new bus system

PANAMA CITY — No longer will parents complain to Bay District’s transportation department about delayed buses going to and from charter schools.

That’s because a separate bus system for charter schools will roll out Sept. 8.

“We’re working on a program to make sure our kids arrive to school on time,” John Haley, Bay District Schools executive director of facilities, said at a press conference Friday. “Our charter schools are going to operate their own, per se, transportation system.”

Charter schools will have their own routing system, buses and transportation contact lists starting Sept. 8. District officials developed the new system after its transportation routing system was inundated by a booming number of students who started attending three newly relocated charter schools this school year — two of them on County 390 and the other not far away on County 389.

“It’s going to be a better system,” Haley said.

In the mornings, parents of charter school students will take students to centralized locations in the community — called “hubs” — and then a shuttle service will take students directly to their schools. Students will ride on shuttle buses from schools to connecting routes ran by traditional school buses in the afternoons.

Bay District has loaned 10 buses and four bus drivers to Bay Haven Charter Academy Inc., the parent organization to five local charter schools, to operate the shuttle service.

The new system will impact about 450 of Bay Haven’s students. Officials were still unclear Friday how it will affect other charter schools and bus routes, if at all.

Exact bus service plans for charter schools will be revealed at a press conference scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Bay District Schools headquarters in the Nelson Building, 1311 Balboa Ave. Transportation officials and representatives from charter schools will present the plans at the meeting.

“This is a collective effort that we are extending to the charter schools,” said Stephen Anderson, interim transportation director. “It should be a seamless operation; we’re looking forward to it.”

The transportation department provided a contact list for all Bay Haven charter schools, University Academy and Newpoint middle and high schools. Parents should call the contacts on the list, not the school district’s transportation department, the officials said.

“If they have concerns, they should contact them directly,” Anderson said. “We’ll still be available. ... We still will have a hand, but we’re just trying to streamline the process as much as we can.”

However, until the new routing system is put in place Sept. 8, transportation services will remain the same. 

Charter schools transportation contacts

North Bay Haven Charter Academy Elementary School

- Primary: Kathleen Branch, 850-630-6462

- Administrative: Rosie Hendrickson, 850-814-1604

North Bay Haven Charter Academy Middle/High School

- Primary: Julie Ducharme, 850-630-8735

- Administrative: Mike Kennedy, 850-630-8746

Bay Haven Charter Academy

- Primary: Allison Tibbets, 850-596-1093

- Administrative: Doug Jacobs, 850-630-6428

Newpoint Middle/High School

- Kevin Daniels, 850-215-0770

University Academy

- Wanda Coleman, 850-481-4410