Lee County outlines Safe Start gains but bus timing, driver shortages remain
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Summary
District transportation staff reported improved on‑time arrivals and dismissals after a three‑tier Safe Start rollout but said persistent long high‑school routes, traffic and a very small substitute‑driver pool remain problems that limit afternoon performance and increase costs.
Deputy Superintendent Ken Savage on Tuesday said the district’s Safe Start initiative has produced measurable improvements in student arrival and dismissal times after a three‑tier rollout earlier this fall. Transportation director Jared McKinney and operations staff reported AM on‑time arrival rates that rose from about 71% last year to 91% this year districtwide; elementary on‑time arrivals improved from about 79% to 93%.
Those gains have translated to added instructional time at high schools, where McKinney said a two‑minute per‑period gain yields roughly 42 extra hours of instruction per school year for students. "Two minutes per period may not seem like a lot, but...that's 42 hours of additional instruction per year," he said.
Why it matters: The district tied punctuality improvements directly to student learning time at high schools and to the integrity of the elementary reading block at the elementary level. Board members said improved punctuality also reduces staff time spent supervising late students.
How it works: Staff said the program coordinated route timing, added bus‑operator full‑time equivalents (FTE) and worked with external partners (sheriff’s deputies, county DOT) to address local traffic and signal‑timing issues that block buses. McKinney said improvements are “a team approach” involving site leaders, law enforcement and transportation.
What’s still unresolved: Staff repeatedly told the board the most significant limits are long high‑school routes and a shortage of substitute drivers. McKinley said the district currently has only three substitute bus drivers and identified a realistic staffing goal of 15, with an ideal target of about 25. "My happy medium is 15, but I would love to be at 25," he said. Board members and staff discussed high‑school proximity rules that were changed for elementary and middle schools but not for high schools; those longstanding high‑school routing patterns can require routes that exceed average ride times and create morning/afternoon scheduling mismatches.
Next steps and caveats: Transportation staff said they are testing routing‑software options, considering targeted partnerships for very long out‑of‑zone routes and reviewing McKinney‑identified outlier stops (for example, routes that pick up a handful of students at very early times). Staff cautioned that accidents, seasonal traffic and federal furloughs affecting permit work or road projects can still produce day‑to‑day delays.
Attribution: Deputy Superintendent Ken Savage and Transportation Director Jared McKinney presented performance data and answered questions from board members including Member Persons and Member Jordan. Their slides and the district’s on‑time monitoring dashboard provided the data summarized here.
