Brentwood UFSD transportation presentation: budget rise, safety-zone study and proposed bus proposition

At the Jan. 22 Brentwood Union Free School District budget workshop, transportation staff reviewed operations, safety work and a proposed transportation budget increase.

Presenters described the district’s contracting and daily operations: the district contracts with Suffolk Transportation Service for the majority of routes (staff clarified that county-managed DSS residential locations are served under a separate contract managed by Swissport and town-bus subcontractors), and the district runs approximately 109 large buses, 173 minibuses and 15 wheelchair-accessible buses on a typical day. Staff reported that buses transport roughly 16,676 student trips to 18 district schools, 22 private/parochial schools and 27 special-need/UPK sites daily. The district employs several hundred people directly and indirectly to support transportation operations.

Transportation staff highlighted safety-focused investments: expanded crisis prevention and intervention (CPI) training (increasing session capacity), installation of AI-powered in-cab safety cameras that provide weekly safety scores and driver feedback, distribution of reflective jackets to driver assistants, and district-wide stop-arm cameras. Presenters said stop-arm violations have declined by about 18% over the past two years and that hotspot reports produced by the cameras are shared with bus companies and Suffolk County police for targeted enforcement.

Staff also described customer-service improvements (a seasonal transportation hotline and phone-queueing for peak enrollment calls) and procedural changes, including moving the district’s local "babysitter" transportation form deadline to June 1 (private/parochial deadlines remain April 1) and earlier bus-pass distribution.

A safety-zone (walker-route) study (Shaw study) focusing on the Freshman Center and high school showed that historic walker maps do not reflect current housing and street patterns; preliminary modeling suggests about 13 buses could be required to reduce risky walking routes to school. Staff estimated the cost of adding those buses at approximately $1,300,000 and said that would be placed on the budget vote as a separate proposition for community approval.

Presenters also noted the district added four new electric buses this year (bringing the district total to seven) and said the transportation budget being proposed for 2026–27 is $42,494,000 compared with the current $38,980,000. Staff attributed the 9.01% increase primarily to annual CPI adjustments in the contract, renewal timing for contractually prepaid services, and the potential inclusion of additional buses if the community approves the proposition. Staff emphasized that if the community does not approve the proposition, the district would remove those buses from the budget.