Beech Grove transportation director details fleet, routes and staffing as district grows
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Director Misty Mack told the board the transportation department runs 78 daily routes, a fleet of 33 buses and 916 activity trips (July–July). The district transports roughly 1,600 of about 2,850 enrolled students and maintains a five-year replacement plan of two buses per year.
Misty Mack, Beech Grove’s director of transportation, told the school board on Sept. 9 that the department runs 78 daily routes, operates a fleet of 33 buses and performed 916 activity trips in the last July-to-July year.
“Student enrollment when this slide was made was approximately 2,850, and we transport around 1,600 of those students,” Mack said, noting the district runs 19 special-needs routes in addition to general-education routes and several out-of-district runs. She described staffing levels of 16 full-time drivers, seven substitute drivers and seven monitors, and said three monitors hold a state “yellow card” that permits limited student transport after a three-day safety class.
Kevin Kinder, routing and trip coordinator, walked the board through the fleet and replacement policy. He said the district currently keeps two buses on a replacement cycle each year as part of a five-year plan. “Buses that are 12 years old have to go through a biannual inspection,” Kinder said, noting state police scrutiny makes timely replacement important.
Mack and Kinder also described steps to improve staffing and training. Mack said the district recently added a small activity bus that can operate on routes with 15 passengers or fewer, and the transportation office retains a driver trainer (a retired full-time driver) who works PRN to certify new applicants for CDLs and support recruitment.
The presentation included a staffing-tenure breakdown that Mack said illustrates retention, and she highlighted a mix of fleet types as the district moves from older diesel units toward gas-powered Bluebird buses. Mack credited internal mechanics and targeted investments for helping the district reduce outsourcing of repairs.
Board members praised the team’s work. The presentation was informational; no action beyond the previously scheduled bus-replacement hearing was taken at that time.