JPS, Southwestern, & Frewsburg to Share Transportation Supervisor

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John Spacht

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Jamestown Public Schools

Jamestown Public Schools and the Southwestern and Frewsburg central school districts will share a transportation supervisor — John Spacht — for the 2023-24 school year. Spacht has served as the shared transportation supervisor for Southwestern and Frewsburg since 2021.

Under the agreement, Spacht will split his time between the districts on a 40/35/25 basis: working 40% of the time for the Southwestern Central School District, 35% for Jamestown Public Schools, and 25% of the time for the Frewsburg Central School District in any given week, where he will help to oversee each district’s transportation operations. The schools will also share a head bus driver, Roger Bingham, Jr., who will be responsible for training and regulation compliance.

Spacht has worked in school transportation since 2010 and previously served as Jamestown Public Schools’ head mechanic. In 2017, he joined the Southwestern Central School District as transportation supervisor before becoming the shared supervisor with Frewsburg in 2021. Spacht is also a certified Commercial Drivers’ License instructor for Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES and also serves as a third-party road test examiner through BOCES.

“I am very excited to work with the transportation team at Jamestown again,” Spacht said. “JPS has a group of transportation professionals that are very dedicated to student safety. I look forward to this amazing opportunity to help make the transportation of our children at these three districts safer, more efficient, and cost effective.”

“I am pleased to be involved with this partnership with Frewsburg and Southwestern, that enables us to better serve our communities’ transportation needs both today and into the future,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, JPS Superintendent. “Mr. Spacht has a great deal of experience, certification, licensure and knowledge in many areas of transportation logistics, maintenance and leadership. We welcome him as he brings those talents to JPS and look forward to a long partnership.”

“As our county continues to experience a shortage in bus drivers and qualified mechanics, it makes sense to share transportation services,” said Shelly O’Boyle, Superintendent of the Frewsburg Central School. “Frewsburg is happy to be part of this arrangement and believes all three districts will benefit from John’s vast knowledge and experience.”

“This shared transportation agreement is a great opportunity to build capacity as we strengthen regional transportation services,” said Maureen Donahue, Superintendent of the Southwestern Central School District. “At the end of the day, we will maximize resources that ultimately will benefit kids.