District cites driver absences, outlines recruitment incentives and plans for bus purchases
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Summary
Officials described a transportation disruption caused by staff absences and two contracted runs the vendor could not cover; the district is offering $500 recruitment incentives and plans a roughly $1.1M bus purchase funded from reserves.
Lisa, staff member, told the board the district experienced a difficult transportation day when nine drivers called in—five at the last minute—and two contracted runs were not available, forcing the district to combine routes and reassign clerical staff and mechanics to driving duties.
"We pulled in every resource," Lisa said, and acknowledged families were inconvenienced. She added the district continues active recruitment and noted an employee incentive program that pays $500 to a new driver and $500 to the employee who refers them after the new hire completes probation.
Will Theo said the bus purchase will be paid from the district’s bus reserves and that vendor availability is still being confirmed; "we should be settling in a number in the $1,100,000 range," he said. Theo and Lisa said the transportation director, Jennifer Jones, is developing ridership data to allow smarter combining of low-ridership runs.
Board members described the district’s four-tiered transportation model—separate runs for high school, middle school and two elementary tiers—which creates cascading delays when one tier is late. Staff said moving to a three-tier model would require more buses or contracted runs and therefore additional expense.
The board discussed policy options such as changing walking-distance rules or an opt-out system where families who drive their children would forfeit assigned seats. Staff noted such policy changes can affect emergency routing and state reimbursement; a board member said state reimbursement rules generally use 2 miles for elementary and 3 miles for high school when calculating walker eligibility, though the district’s current local policy schedules every child for transportation.
No formal action was taken; staff said appointments for new drivers and attendants will appear on the March 4 agenda.
