2018-2019 Home-To-School Busing Roll Out - …

2018-2019 Home-To-School Busing Roll Out Columbus School District

Thank you for your interest in Columbus School District transportation. The District has been hard at work improving the transportation program, so that we provide equitable services to all students, follow district policy/state law/DPI guidance, and responsibly use tax payer dollars. The following are summaries of the calls to action the District has identified in the 2017-2018 year and the responses. This document is continually updated as progress is made.

ACTION: Review District transportation practices and procedures in relationship to policies, State law and DPI guidance. Further evaluate practices and procedures for inequities to students (access to busing), treatment of students (route length and behavior management strategies), communication to families (route times, behavior information), responsible use of tax dollars and more. Use staff, parent and student input as well as behavior and budget data in evaluation process.

RESPONSE (December 2017): According to District policy, state law and DPI guidance, a student will be transported if their primary (or secondary in the case of a dual family household) is two miles or more from their assigned school; or if the student has transportation written into an Individualized Education Plan; or if the home is located in an unusually hazardous area identified by the district, approved by the sheriff and documented by DPI. The Columbus School District is busing an extraordinary amount of students on home-to-school routes who do not qualify for transportation according these stipulations. Since the Columbus School District does not have an Unusually Hazardous Route Plan approved by the Columbia County Sheriff's Department nor filed with DPI, the District does not receive transportation aid for students who live less than two miles from their assigned school even they have a "country" residence. This includes the convenience and door stops within two miles of assigned schools.

The District pays the transportation company by route in addition to the fuel cost. In addition to the excess fuel cost, these stops add many minutes to the route time with some buses running a 75 minute route. Some of the stops have caused buses to reach capacity and do "double runs" meaning that a bus will double back for students, resulting in additional fuel cost and adding many minutes to the length of the route.

Because the District does not have a map approved by local and state officials, students and families are receiving inequitable treatment in accessing transportation. The general rule is families must live more than two miles to access transportation, but many students have been granted transportation for a variety of reasons resulting in unfair and inequitable service.

Further evaluation identified weaknesses in behavior management including incident or referral documentation. In addition, parents and staff cited issues with communication including route times and delays.

ACTION: Create a transportation plan that meets district policies, is equitable to all families, and utilizes taxpayer dollars responsibly starting in the 2018-2019 school year.

RESPONSE (January 2018): The District created the following plan:

1. In 2018-2019 students who qualify for transportation will be guaranteed services. Per policy and law, a student will be transported if their primary (or secondary in the case of a dual family household) is two miles or more from their assigned school; or if the student has transportation written into an Individualized Education Plan; or if the home is located in an unusually hazardous area identified by the district. a. To support this plan, the district must develop an Unusually Hazardous Transportation Plan under the guidance of DPI: b. The District identified unusually hazardous areas within the City of Columbus and created a busing map that identifies these areas. c. This plan was sent to the Columbia County Sheriff's department who studied the plan. REPORT PENDING d. The final map (PENDING) is submitted to DPI.

2. To support the families of students who do not qualify for transportation, the District is implementing a "buy-a-seat" program to enable these students to access transportation. a. The program is modeled after the School District of Milton's program. b. Availability of seats for purchase are based on capacity of the bus and are on a first-come, first-serve basis with students who rode the route in 2017-2018 receiving priority. Buy-a-seat riders will be picked up at groups stops in Columbus within walkable distance, not door service. The program for 2018-2019: i. Seats will be $175 per seat for the entire school year. ii. A form will be available on the District website on Tuesday, September 4, for families who would like to buy a seat. iii. Lamers will calculate the number of seats available for purchase on Friday, September 7. iv. The District will notify families of their acceptance/denial to purchase a seat on Monday, September 10. v. Families will have until Wednesday, September 12, to register for transportation under the buy-a-seat program.

vi. Families that purchase a seat will be notified by Friday, September 14 of their stop assignment and time.

vii. Transportation under the buy-a-seat program will begin on Monday, September 24, and will run through the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year.

viii. Families will have until Wednesday, September 26, to pay for their seat in full. There are NO refunds.

ix. The purchasing window is open during the first week of school only. The only exceptions will be for students moving.

x. Students must adhere to the bus conduct rules. All rules and consequences apply to students under the regular transportation program and the buy-a-seat program.

xi. Families will need to re-apply in 2019-2020 with those who rode in the 2018-2019 school year receiving priority.

ACTION: Publish a Request for Proposals from bus contractors that emphasises the need for a partner who will support the district in enforcing district policies, improve bus behavior management and improve communication (needs identified by the evaluation of the busing program). The RFP is also intended to ensure competitively priced contract service.

RESPONSE (January - March 2018): The Columbus School District released an RFP in January. Lamers and Riteway supplied bids to the request. A decision making committee chose Lamers for three primary reasons: 1) lowest bid; 2) Driver training in behavior management in addition to behavior management technology tools including cameras on buses, online referral system and GPS on buses; 3) technology tools that increase parent communication. The District's primary concern in this choice was the status of the current bus drivers who serve the district. Lamers committed to offering continued employment to all drivers, and after the decision was made Riteway also committed to offering employment at their other local districts.

ACTION: Communicate 2018-2019 Home-To-School Busing Roll Out to the community and parents.

RESPONSE (Fall 2017-Present): The Columbus School District regularly reported to the school board the status of the 2018-2019 Home-To-School Busing Roll Out action items beginning in the Fall of 2018 and then throughout the RFP process. Once the decision was made to move to Lamers in 2018-2019, a press release was sent to local news outlets. The District began organizing a parent communication

plan around transportation beginning with a parent advisory council. The timing of this council meeting was limited by the availability of the routing software vendor who provided the parents a webinar on the parent portal that will now be available. Based on the feedback from the council and other parent requests/comments, the District/Lamers will:

1. Publish the bused area maps on the website prior to 2018-2019 registration opening (July 2, 2018). Once these maps are published, an email will be sent via Infinite Campus to notify families the maps are now available online. For those who cannot access the internet, maps will also be printed in the District Office and each building office.

2. Simplify the bus registration process by clarifying the questions and response options offered during online registration for 2018-2019.

3. Provide transportation parent portal login credentials to all families who register online for transportation. This portal will provide real-time route information including stop times and bus location.

4. Publish a "Get on the Bus" brochure and checklist that walks families through the changes and improvements for 2018-2019. This brochure will assist families in understanding how to use the parent portal, how to communicate with Lamers and answer other commonly asked questions.

5. Online registration will close on August 14, 2018. Lamers will have two weeks to create routes. Route and stop information will be released to families by Tuesday, August 28. NOTICE: families who do not register online by August 14 will not be guaranteed a bus on the first day of school.

6. Lamers representatives will be on hand at the middle school and elementary school "back to school" events to answer questions and get to know the students and families of the Columbus School District.

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