ELKHART -- Elkhart Community Schools students and their parents may have some adjustments to make next year in getting to and from school.

At Tuesday's public work session the ECS board of trustees received updates from a committee that has been working to trim transportation costs. The committee will make official recommendations to the board about what changes to make next month.

Doug Hasler, executive director of support services, said there are currently two preliminary recommendations at the forefront of officials' minds. The first is to push back bell times for certain elementary schools. The second is to enforce the walk zones for elementary and secondary schools.

The schools that could face later bell times are Beardsley, Mary Beck, Mary Daly, Hawthorne, Monger, Roosevelt, Woodland and possibly Osolo. Robert Woods, director of ECS business operations, said that having two sets of start times for elementary schools would offset transportation costs as fewer buses would be needed to drive students.

Hasler said it's unlikely any of the current walk zones -- one mile for elementary schools and 11/2 miles for secondary schools- will be changed. Instead it's more likely that the district will be stricter about enforcing the current walk zones, meaning exceptions to walking would only be granted to students with special circumstances.

Hasler said such changes could yield between $300,000 and $400,000 in savings, well below the $1 million in savings he estimated earlier this year would be needed. But Hasler said it was important that practical options were presented while there was enough time to act on them.

No definite decisions have been made, and more planning and consulting lies ahead. The committee has and will continue to meet with school officials, parents and students for input before making their final recommendations. There will also be three informational meetings where parents can voice their concerns and ask questions about the potential transportation changes.

The committee is expected to make its final recommendation to the board May 12.

Anyone interested in learning or asking about proposed changes to Elkhart Community Schools' transportation budget next year can attend any of the following meetings:

April 29 at Central High School

May 4 at North Side Middle School

May 5 at Memorial High School

All meetings start at 6:30 p.m.