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District outlines transportation overhaul: routing audit, tablets and registration events
Summary
Deputy Superintendent Kelly Brown and staff reported that a routing audit will be completed before school starts, the state will install tablets on buses for the 2026–27 school year, route start times may change to improve punctuality, and bus-registration events are scheduled for late July.
District officials told the Sumter School District Board on July 13 that a transportation routing audit is on track and will be completed before the start of the 2026–27 school year, and described steps to reduce travel time and fill driver vacancies.
"One route had over 30 stops and over 19 of those stops, no students, got on the bus last year," Deputy Superintendent Kelly Brown said, describing how rerouting unused stops can reduce route times by as much as 38 to 40 minutes for affected buses. The district said it will complete a stop-by-stop routing review with its vendor and adjust routes and bell times where necessary to improve timeliness.
District staff also reported that the South Carolina State Department is installing tablets on state buses and that tablet training and in-service sessions for drivers are scheduled in July; those devices will help drivers and substitutes run assigned routes. Officials outlined hiring constraints for bus drivers (DOT physical, state training and CDL permits) and said contingency plans will be used to cover routes while vacancies are filled.
Public-facing steps include bus-registration events July 27–29 at Hillcrest, Sumter High and Furman to register families and help them download the district parent app the district will use for route and bus communications.
What happens next: Officials will finish the routing audit, publish adjusted schedules, run driver training and use bond reallocation proceeds for bus purchases and equipment such as cameras and radios, as funding allows. Board members asked staff to provide the exact time of the first pickup from last year; staff agreed to follow up with that data.
Ending: Transportation changes are part of a broader effort district leaders described to ensure equitable instructional time and to reduce chronic absenteeism by coordinating schedule, food services and career-center timings with routing.
