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DPS will not expand express stops next year; district reports progress on bus‑driver recruitment and route optimization
Summary
Durham Public Schools said it will not add express stops for 2025–26 amid changing ridership and school assignment variables, and reported gains in recruiting drivers, routing work with ITRI, and a foundation fundraising campaign to help cover driver onboarding costs.
Durham Public Schools’ operations and transportation staff told the board on March 27 they will not expand express stops for the 2025–26 school year because routing and school‑assignment variables remain in flux and could require additional routes if express stops were added.
Transportation staff said final route counts will depend on ongoing ridership requests that continue into the summer and on the second phase of the district’s Growing Together assignments. The district currently reported 19,107 students assigned to bus routes, which equals 139 route packages.
Staff described ongoing routing work with North Carolina State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE/ITRI) to produce more accurate routes and said that improved routing work is expected to yield driver efficiencies. The district also is evaluating a private routing vendor for further capacity.
On recruitment and retention, staff reported progress since mid‑March: 14 new bus drivers have been added, 9 candidates are in queue (testing/physical/endorsement steps), and 22 DPS employees have driven buses since March 17. The district reported 34 full‑time drivers and set a goal of reaching 55.
The Durham Public Schools Foundation has launched a fundraising effort to defray driver onboarding costs (licensing and DOT physicals). Staff said initial onboarding costs are about $400 per driver; the Foundation’s online fund link was shared during the meeting. The Foundation earlier had raised more than $12,000 toward a goal the presentation later referenced as roughly $19,000 for onboarding support.
Board members and staff also discussed other retention ideas, including summer work for drivers in maintenance or grounds roles and reopening a closed bus lot to ease logistics. Dr. Lewis praised community groups and the Foundation for outreach efforts that supported driver recruitment and morale.
