Big yellow busses will soon be rolling around the cities of Wellman and Kalona, and the Mid-Prairie School District is informing parents of the changes made to the bus routes this fall.

The district moved preschool through second grades to Mid-Prairie East Elementary in Kalona, and preschool, kindergarten, third and fourth grades to Mid-Prairie West Elementary in Wellman. Transportation Director Teresa Hartley describes the new routes, “The nice thing about the way we are running it now is almost every bus goes to every attendance center, where before kids would have to get off at say the elementary schools and transfer to another bus to make sure that they could get to the opposite town. But with the way this works, there’s actually only two busses that don’t go to all the attendance centers.”

Hartley and Lynx Transportation Solutions consultant Jeff Walker devised different route scenarios over the past year, some of which included the possibility of boundaries imposed for which centers students would attend, and determined this plan is best for the district. Mid-Prairie has added three busses for a total of 13. Kalona and Wellman will each have three in-town stops. All elementary and fifth grade students will receive a colored tag to place on their backpacks to match the bus they will be riding. Hartley sent a letter to Mid-Prairie parents detailing the changes, and she encourages families to attend the transportation night on August 16 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Mid-Prairie High School. Children will get to meet their bus drivers and estimated pick up and drop off times will be available.

Wellman In-Town Stops:

6th Ave & 4th St at Baptist Church Parking Lot
8th Ave at Mennonite Church Parking Lot
9th Ave & 3rd St at Post Office Sidewalk

Kalona In-Town Stops:
6th St & C Ave at Kalona Public Library
6th St & J St at Methodist Church
6th Street at Trailer Park