Montville — The school district this week announced a host of transportation changes to improve services after continued challenges in bus driver recruitment have left parents frustrated by late buses, inconsistent drivers and route switches.

In a letter to parents this week, Superintendent Laurie Pallin said the district would increase the number of students who walk to school, no longer provide elective transportation to multiple middle schools and magnet schools and enforce stricter bus stop policies.

"Right now our runs are so long that we cannot fit them into the windows between the three start or dismissal times at elementary, middle and high schools," she said Friday. "By reducing the number of students taking a bus or reducing the number of stops ... we hope to shorten the run lengths enough to get students to school on time."

Pallin added that the moves may save a little money in fuel costs, but the purpose was to quicken and improve district services, not reduce costs. The shifts won't result in the need for fewer drivers, she added.

The district has offered $1,000 signing bonuses for drivers who maintain clean records and meet attendance expectations, in-depth training for new drivers awaiting licenses and $250 referral bonuses for bus garage employees drawing new drivers with a commercial driver's license. But relatively low pay, time-consuming applications and training and licensing requirements are often cited as snags in recruitment for school districts across the nation.

The school district says too many students are currently bused who live within the district's zone for walkability: 1 mile for grades K-5 and 1.5 miles for grades 6-12. District officials will adjust the formula whenever they determine safety hazards exist, Pallin noted.

To cut down on the number of times buses stop and the number of small side roads buses traverse, the district will also enforce the expectation that students walk to group bus stops. Pallin told the Board of Education, which approved the policy changes last week, that the district will no longer abide by "special arrangements that we've made over the years at parents' requests," allowing buses to stop directly at too many individual homes, delaying routes along the way.

"We're trying to meet everybody's needs and be fair," said Pallin, who noted the decisions were not easy and followed extensive review by an ad hoc committee that included school board members and parents.

The district also will no longer bus Montville students to out-of-district schools such as the Three Rivers Middle College Magnet High School, Marine Science Magnet High School, Regional Multicultural Magnet School and the ISAAC School.

Board of Education members James Wood and Dana Ladyga said the decisions were well thought out and could potentially bring students back to Montville. They noted that if parents choose to send their children out of district, they should have responsibility to provide transportation.

Pallin in her letter said school officials had discussed the situation with LEARN regional education service center, which serves area districts with multiple magnet schools and provides transportation. Pallin said LEARN may provide transportation to its schools through hub stops in Montville.

Kate Ericson, LEARN's deputy executive director, said Friday that LEARN still needed to review the number of students — which varies annually among 30 towns, with different age groups starting and ending school at different times — attending its schools. Later this she said they would put together a package.

"We understand these are hard times and decisions have to be made," she said. "We're grateful for the spirit of cooperation we've had for so long as part of our regional cooperation from many districts, not just Montville."

b.kail@theday.com