ANSWER:

Moving from a four-tier to a three-tier bell time structure would increase transportation costs for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) by approximately one-third, or approximately $35 million.

It is important to note that this approach includes three equal tiers which means that elementary schools would not all start at the same time. Running one tier for elementary schools, another tier for middle schools, and a third for high schools would require us to double our fleet so that we have enough buses to transport all elementary school students at the same time.

This rough-cost estimate does not include facilities and property costs for parking the additional 430 buses that would be needed in MCPS.