LIVERMORE FALLS – Schools in SAD 36 will open Aug. 31 on last year’s schedule, with separate bus runs for elementary and secondary students.

But parents shouldn’t get too accustomed to those schedules and buses, because they’ll soon be changing, Superintendent Terry Despres told directors in a special meeting Thursday night.

“We want parents to know at the end of nine weeks, we’ll go to single runs,” Despres said. A letter will go out Monday to all parents explaining the situation, including routes and times, and advising them of bus rules. Students and parents need to know that riding the bus is a privilege, he said. “You don’t follow the rules, you don’t ride.”

He explained that the reason for the shift backward was not due to the parental objections raised at last week’s hearing on the change, but because of a lack of drivers.

Unfortunately, after the decision to go to a single run, an internal piece of the plan fell through with the resignation of one bus driver and unrest among others, he explained.

With single runs, all drivers would have been used, and the schools would have had to postpone and delay games, he explained. There would not have been enough extra drivers to handle the load.

Despres admitted his disappointment and said his recommendation to go to separate bus runs for nine weeks was made reluctantly. He is obtaining a list of Maine schools that have a single-run system, and has been told it includes more than 70 percent of the state’s schools.

“We’ve been working hard to put safety on the buses. This was not only to save money but do it right with an extra pair of eyes,” he said.

Monitors will not be on the buses at the opening of school but will begin their duties as soon as possible, he added. They will continue their training with youngsters on the elementary buses.

In addition to school personnel who will be riding the buses, several parents have offered to be a part of the monitor group and they too will be trained.

Many parents have called to support the single-run issue, Despres said, and things are looking up as the driver who resigned has rescinded that resignation and he has two other candidates for the job.

In other business, the board approved the appointment of Jennifer Timberlake as Grade 5 teacher and accepted the resignations of John Noble, educational technician; Troy Eastman, special education; Ted Finn, social science; and Chris Moreau, allied arts. Finn and Moreau have taken assistant principal positions in Wiscasset and Sumner.