WESTBROOK – The new reconfiguration of Westbrook schools means some shuffling of school bus schedules, with many children taking different buses to school at different times. Whether that will become a serious problem for children – and their parents – remains to be seen.

“It’s hard for me to answer it until the buses start rolling,” said Superintendent Marc Gousse.

The new schedules are designed to get students to their new destinations as smoothly as possible, Gousse said, no easy task with the closing of Prides Corner Elementary School and the department sending fifth-graders to the middle school now.

The Westbrook School Committee has been discussing bus schedule impact almost since the start. Member Alex Stone said some kids have to get on the bus as much as 20 minutes later than they used to. For parents who escort their children to the bus stops, Stone said, that means adjustments to their schedules, too.

“I think that they’re going to start complaining once we get into it,” Stone said.

Gousse said elementary school-age children living in the northwest side of town will likely face the biggest impact, since most of those kids used to go to Prides Corner, which closed due to its age and budget cutbacks.

But, Gousse stressed that officials estimate the new bus schedules won’t keep kids riding longer than an extra 5-10 minutes per day.

“We don’t have kids riding significant amounts of time on the bus,” he said.

Stone and Gousse both said the department would make efforts to accommodate parents. Stone said the School Committee would address the issue in the future, if public outcry makes that necessary.