Issue

Correction

Comments

Four Hull Prairie Intermediate (HPI) routes are arriving to HPI late each morning and then late to PJHS, St. Rose and some of the elementary schools.

We have adjusted those routes to ensure that they will arrive on time at HPI in the morning. The families of those students have been notified of the change.

These buses are late to HPI and then leave to pick up PJHS students or St. Rose students. As a result, they begin that process already late. This adjustment should impact late arriving buses in the morning at HPI, PJHS, St. Rose and ultimately the elementary schools.

Length of time to board students and exit the parking lot at HPI after school is greater than what was planned.

The boarding process of over 700 bus riders at HPI has improved as students and employees are better able to identify the correct bus to board. Buses are now exiting the HPI parking lot more quickly. Each day this number has improved greatly.

With a 5-7 minute longer delay in exiting the HPI parking lot than used in our simulation, the buses are arriving late at PJHS and St. Rose and ultimately the elementary buildings.

The simulation underestimated the amount of traffic on Roachton Road and the time it would take for the buses to pull out into traffic. Steps have been taken to speed up this process.

The time to travel from HPI to PJHS is taking 5-10 minutes longer than our simulation estimated.

The administration at HPI will move dismissal to 2:30 p.m. This move will provide additional time for the buses to travel to PJHS, St. Rose and ultimately the elementary buildings.

Mr. Best and his team will look to make internal changes to the schedule to accommodate the new dismissal time. Because of shared staffing with PJHS, travel time needed and meeting contractual obligations for planning time for teachers, Mr. Best and his team will need to be considerate of those factors.

For over a decade students have shuttled between PJHS and PHS each morning and afternoon just like the HPI and PJHS students are doing now. The simulation calculated the added distance from HPI to PJHS. However, the amount of traffic between HPI and PJHS we are now experiencing due to vehicles avoiding the ramp closures and lane restrictions on Route 25 is much greater than what was used in the simulation.

Student bus numbers were not shared with the schools until very late.

Schools and bus drivers will be provided with a current and accurate list of riders for each route.

Last week we added 51 new students to bus routes. Each addition changed the existing bus routes. Additionally, the district allows for alternative transportation drop offs and pick ups. Hundreds of requests are processed separately and added to routes. Staff has determined a better way to merge all of this information and connect it to the individual bus routes.

Reaching the transportation department via phone or email is a problem.

Over the summer, the school district will create a “transportation help desk” that will be available to answer questions during summer months and at the start of the school year. We will reassign staff during peak times to assist responding to families’ emails. We are looking to set up a system where calls to the department will roll over to another area before going to voicemail.

The transportation department has three phones in the office; the director’s, dispatcher’s and secretary’s phones. During high volumes of calls, all three lines get tied up and cause incoming calls to go directly to voicemail.

New drivers on the routes do not know them as well as previous drivers.

The school district will authorize drivers to continue to practice their routes on their own time each week for the next two weeks.

The school district is employing over 10 new drivers – new drivers are driving close to 25% of the routes. Adding HPI required hiring more drivers. Bus drivers are part of a collective bargaining unit. Drivers bid on routes annually based on seniority. The administration has no say in how drivers bid on routes.

New drivers are trained and pass all state requirements to become bus drivers. However, many are learning the neighborhoods, streets and bus stops. There is a learning curve and in time, the drivers will be more efficient.

Bus stops have moved to new locations.

Drivers and the transportation department will conduct an ongoing review of bus stops. Families can communicate with their drivers or the department regarding bus stops.

Bus stops are designed to follow student populations. In the two-flight system, bus stops may have remained relatively consistent. With the transition to a three-flight system, bus stops had to be changed. Bus stops now are placed in more centralized locations to draw students to them and maximize efficiency. Students may be asked to walk up to five blocks to a bus stop. The school district does not have the resources to provide door-to-door service. The walk areas can be up to 2 miles however, we usually do 1 - 1.5 depending on the location. We have over 1,000 students who walk ¼ to ½ mile every day to school.

The length of the bus rides is long.

With the buses arriving to the schools on time, students will be getting home sooner.

At this time, families are looking at the time school is dismissed and the time that their child is getting home. In some cases, this is not the actual time the students are on the bus. In most cases where the routes are long, students are at the school waiting for the bus to arrive before boarding. This adds to the total time.

There are some routes that take more time than most. In the two-flight system, the school district had some “long routes” and with the three-flight system some remain. We will continue to look for more efficient ways to transport students.