Stafford transportation reports high on-time rates, plans route consolidations and parent opt‑in timeline

Transportation director Mr. Wilk reviewed the department’s 2025–26 performance, staffing and routing plans and answered board questions about safety and parent communication.

Wilk presented on-time arrival data by tier: elementary morning rates were about 97.7% in October and 97.4% in April; middle-school mornings were 98.9% (Oct) and 98.3% (Apr); high-school mornings were in the low 90s. "As you will see in within elementary tier we basically have shown ourselves to be reliable where we have had 97.7% morning rate there in October and then in April a 97.4 rate," he said, noting afternoon percentages dipped slightly.

He explained the department measures 'on time' using planned route windows and bell-time thresholds and said shuttle annex runs are included in high‑school figures. Wilk also cited staffing pressures: a combination of long-term medical absences and daily callouts reduced available staff by roughly 30–35 people at times, but recruitment classes are underway. "So, we had 17 drivers in that class, and eight attendants. And then, our next class that will start in July 1, we actually already have 13 drivers lined up for that class," he said.

On bus discipline, staff reported more documented referrals—interpreted as a positive sign of drivers reporting incidents and campuses following up. "We've been able to bridge the gap with the drivers actually knowing that, 'Hey, I wrote a student up. The campus has followed up with me.'" Wilk said, adding the documentation encourages reporting and collaboration with principals.

For routing, staff described the Legacy Bus Stop Project, which audited GIS and field conditions and removed 158 redundant or unsafe stops from a baseline of roughly 4,454, centralizing pickup points to improve safety and operational efficiency. Wilk also described the shuttle annex/direct-route hybrid model being explored for travel students and said no major system changes are planned at rollout.

Staff reported 31,916 students imported into routing data and noted 3,829 AM opt‑outs and 3,525 PM opt‑outs as of June 3. ParentView will display opt-in status on July 1 (not route details); staff plan to release pickup locations and stop times to parents on July 29, assign drivers beginning Aug. 5 and run driver in‑service and route trials before school transition days Aug. 11–12.

Board members asked for separate shuttle and midday-run statistics, a breakdown of shuttle vs. high‑school on-time rates, and counts of students removed from bus service for disciplinary reasons; staff agreed to provide the requested breakdowns and follow up.