The Guilford County Board of Education will hold community forums on Tuesday, Feb. 15 and Wednesday, Feb. 16 to discuss and receive feedback on a proposed multi-tier bus transportation program for Guilford County Schools (GCS).

The forums are scheduled for the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the media center at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts, 825 Washington St., High Point

• Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Page High, 201 Alma Pinnix Drive, Greensboro

The purpose of the forums is to inform parents and school staff and receive feedback about proposed changes to bus scheduling for the 2011-12 school year. A multi-tier bus schedule is being proposed by GCS staff as a way to reduce transportation operating costs and increase efficiency. The potential savings for using a multi-tier schedule for all traditional schools is estimated at $1.1 million to $1.6 million.

Moving to a three-tier schedule for traditional schools could allow the district to alleviate overcrowding and lengthy ride times on some bus routes and would provide more educational time for elementary schools.

The proposed plan would require changes to the current start and end times for schools and would have schools in the third tier start and end later in the day than they do currently. GCS transports 41,231 students on 624 school buses to and from traditional, magnet and alternative schools and operates buses from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.