Germantown ad hoc transportation committee recommends keeping current school start, end times for 2026–27

The Germantown School District ad hoc transportation committee voted on Feb. 3 to forward a positive recommendation to the full school board to keep existing school start and end times for the 2026–27 school year.

Dr. Reuter, speaking for administration, presented the committee with a yearlong review of transportation options, the district's contract with transportation provider Rightway and the results of a parent survey. "Our recommendation this evening from [Altendorf] and I is to just continue with our current start end times based on the feedback we received, based on our scheduling and our parameters, and less disruption to our current practice," Dr. Reuter said.

Committee members noted the survey response and the operational trade-offs. The administration said the survey reached about 991 elementary families and that the survey response rate exceeded 20 percent. One committee member summarized the aggregated responses as "approximately 75% of families ... strongly or somewhat supporting keeping the current start and end times." The committee recorded concerns that alignment across schools would be preferable but concluded the financial and logistical constraints outweighed the benefits of changing time tiers.

Members discussed cost estimates for realigning schedules. The committee heard a lower estimate of roughly $75,000 that assumed certain private-school route arrangements, and an alternative higher estimate in the $120,000'$125,000 range if those private-route assumptions did not apply. Committee members emphasized that any realignment would likely increase costs over time.

The formal motion on the recommendation was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote; the committee did not record roll-call tallies in the meeting transcript. The recommendation will be presented to the full Germantown School District board for final action. The ad hoc committee also approved the meeting agenda and the Jan. 20, 2026 minutes and then adjourned; a short follow-up meeting will be scheduled to approve these meeting minutes formally and close the ad hoc committee.