The Prescott School District will bring back students on Aug. 31, a day earlier than the regular target start date of Sept. 1.

The day will be for students and staff to “ramp up” to the school year and will also allow the district to recoup some summer educational minutes it needs to retain state aid.

The Aug. 31 day will be voluntary, but Superintendent Dr. Rick Spicuzza said it will be a good day for students who haven’t been in the school buildings in six months to get ready to learn.

“We would run 100 percent of our buses. We would have all our food service going. I have reached out and met with our 4K and also our parochial school. St. Joe’s is with us and would want to open and start on Aug. 31 as well,” said Spicuzza. “It would give us the opportunity to capture additional minutes (for state aid) and also to have our student have an additional day to engage socially with other children their age.”

Schools will reopen under social distancing guidelines.

“Some students will be eating in classrooms, some students will be eating in the cafeteria,” said Spicuzza. “We need to run through that so we can get off to a good start academically.”

The district busing map could likely look different this year, as the district tries to meet health guidelines while transporting students to and from school.

Spicuzza said 50 percent of students currently ride buses. The district currently runs routes within the City of Prescott where by law it doesn’t need to bus. Director of Transportation Tim Rundquist said that within two miles, the district doesn’t’ need to bus unless there are safety concerns, like “outside Hwys. 10 and 35.”

Two routes are run in the city, and those buses could be moved to rural routes to reduce bus population.

“We could eliminate them (the city bus routes) and move those buses out to the country and reduce the number of students on the buses,” Rundquist said.

He noted that it could be a hardship.

“They have to walk if they don’t have another form of transportation,” he said.

Rundquist said there are many challenges to busing students, and the district will do its best, including hand sanitizers on the bus and disinfecting vehicles upon return to the bus garage. Not all health guidelines can possibly be met though.

“The CDC guideline is every other seat. If we did that, we’d need 43 more buses,” he said.

The district will continue to work on a transportation plan and the busing changes aren’t final.

He did note that prior to the school shutdown in the spring, many students weren’t riding the bus, as parents were bringing them to and from school, and he expects that will continue with the start of the school year.