Transportation director: every bus staffed, routes heavy; app rollout and parent-responsibility zones discussed

Lebanon Special School District's transportation staff reported that, as of the meeting, the district had a driver for every bus but continued to operate more routes than drivers, producing some double routes and early pickup times for young children.

"Every bus has a driver," Mr. Ashley told the board, adding that one driver completed testing and began full time and that routing remains a challenge. He said the district ran 35 buses daily but operates 45 morning routes and 46 afternoon routes, which requires some drivers to run multiple routes. Mr. Ashley also reported the district had 2,465 students riding buses as of 3:00 p.m. on the second day of school.

Board members raised concerns about double routes and early pickup times for kindergarteners. One board member said they would continue to push to reduce double routing and earlier pickup times, noting the strain on young students. "That's awful early for kindergarteners to get on the bus," a board member said.

The board and staff discussed the bus-tracking app (Traverse) and parent enrollment requirements: parents must enroll through the vendor's website and use the student ID number displayed in Skyward (district student ID, not the state test ID) to link a child to the app. Staff acknowledged initial rollout confusion last year and urged parents to refer to Skyward for the district student ID and to follow the app enrollment steps; the district said the app provides bus number, stop and estimated arrival times once parents enroll.

Staff also described adjustments to parent-responsibility walking zones (areas where families are responsible for walking students to school rather than receiving bus service). The district expanded some zones and estimated the change freed about 90 to 100 bus seats by shifting students to parent pickup or walking options. The board discussed signage and city coordination for some walking routes, and staff said they were working with city staff to add sidewalks and place walker signs when construction is complete.

No formal board action was taken on transportation at the meeting. The board directed staff to continue routing improvements and asked staff to report back on route lengths and opportunities to reduce double routing.

Ending: Transportation staff will continue to refine routes, work on app communication and coordinate signage with city public works and will return to the board with route-length analysis and procurement requests if additional buses are required.