Fishing Creek is “bussin”

One freshman said his bus route is 30 minutes longer this school year.

Freshman Jake Harris said that instead of arriving home at 3:25 p.m. like last year, his arrival time is now 3:50 p.m., which he added is “annoying.”

The school district is facing a “unique challenge” this school year, not because of Fishing Creek’s new role, but due to trying to figure out how to transport all the fifth graders of the district to White Deer Elementary because of Baugher Elementary renovations, according to District Business Administrator Mr. Derrek Fink.

On July 1, Fishing Creek Transportation took over as the Milton Area School District’s bussing and van transportation, replacing Hackenberg Bus Company, which had been with the school district “well over a decade,” said Mr. Fink.

According to Mr. Fink, the district in May learned that the owners of the Hackenberg Bus Company, Ms. Gwen and Mr. Bill Hackenberg, were planning to retire.

He added that Fishing Creek worked closely with Hackenberg to create a plan to transition easily and efficiently even before Hackenberg notified the district of their leave.

The main thing that the school district had to do in those six to eight weeks before the official transition was to review the contract and transfer it over to Fishing Creek, said Mr. Fink.

The district is following the same contract, which includes financial obligation, with Fishing Creek, according to Mr. Fink. This contract expires July 30, 2027.

District Assistant Business Administrator Mr. Darren Tull’s job includes taking care of transportation coordination. He said he acted as a “liaison” between Hackenberg, Fishing Creek and the school district.

Mr. Tull added that he worked over two years in transportation coordination at Montoursville, but lives closer to Milton. According to Mr. Tull, he was ready to take that next step in his career with more responsibilities, all while being closer to home.

Mr. and Ms. Hackenberg are still assisting Fishing Creek with the new role, added Mr. Fink. Hackenberg drivers just transferred to contracts with Fishing Creek, he explained.

According to Mr. Tull, Fishing Creek does things similarly to Hackenberg.

Mr. Tull added Fishing Creek is a larger transportation company that works with other schools including Danville and Bloomsburg. They got positive reference letters from these other schools about Fishing Creek, according to Mr. Fink.

“They just have a few ins and outs that are different as far as how they handle day to day things, but it’s nothing that impacts the bigger picture, how we [the school district] do anything,” said Mr. Tull.

Fishing Creek communicates with its drivers via electronics/online procedures more than Hackenberg did, added Mr. Tull. He said that minor adjustments need to be made with communication, so that everyone is on the same page.

Mr. Fink added that the challenge of bussing the fifth graders to White Deer caused drastic changes in some routes, including some longer routes, because some bus drivers have to pick up fifth graders throughout the entire school district. Mr. Tull said he hopes to continue to adjust the routes to get the students home as quickly and safely as possible while saving the district money.

Mr. Tull said that since Montoursville covers a bigger area with harsher conditions and smaller roads, he was used to “making changes on the fly,” so figuring out how to transport the fifth graders and change the routes was not a new type of situation for him.

Once the district has had a full year with Fishing Creek and Mr. Tull as part of their transportation coordination, routes and communication will become more efficient, according to Mr. Fink.

Mr. Fink added that Milton was very lucky to work with Hackenberg, which was right inside the district, for so long, and that they were able to set up the transition to Fishing Creek.

“They didn’t need to do that legwork but they were able to help us move to what feels like another great contractor,” said Mr. Fink. He added that the partnership with Fishing Creek started off great and is looking forward to working more with them.