RCS changing some bus routes to resolve issues

After hearing concerns about late arrivals and time for students to eat breakfast, Richmond Community Schools’ busing provider has committed to improving morning elementary and middle school routes.

Two Student Transit representatives – John McCue, president of Sodrel Holding Co., and Sacha Amen, local director of transportation – outlined the new structure and other route data and took questions during RCS’ Sept. 11 school board work session. A handful of drivers attended.

Amen said she hears community rumors that some students are riding for two hours, but it’s not true. From Aug. 6-30, a few routes took 63 to 67 minutes, but most were 45-50 minutes.

McCue said he understands district leaders’ frustration about Student Transit’s services and said they’re learning, tracking data and taking concerns seriously.  He said he’s had direct dialogue with Superintendent Curtis Wright, who “can be pretty pointed.”

“We should be held accountable,” McCue said.

McCue said RCS will begin receiving reports every two weeks about on-time performance. Student Transit will dive into delays’ root causes to determine if they’re routing challenges or related to parenting or student behaviors. McCue also noted he’s never seen a community of Richmond’s size with so much road construction.

What’s changing

Student Transit said its on-time percentage has improved so far this year compared to last year, but drivers are still struggling with Richmond High School and Test Intermediate School route times. 

The new morning route structure that’s being rolled out as early as this week means elementary and Test Intermediate students are on the primary morning route. 

Dennis Middle School and Hibberd Program Building are on the secondary morning route. 

Elementary/high school routes will remain the same. 

No changes are being made to afternoon routes. 

Student Transit said the benefits of middle/elementary school route restructuring include: 

• All elementary-aged students on the same routes
• Separation of Test and Dennis students 
• A later arrival time for elementary students (7:30 a.m.) 
• Providing an appropriate time for the middle school route (Dennis/Hibberd)
• Reduction of student counts on middle school buses 
• On-time arrival for Test and Hibberd students. 

Student Transit said it’s conducting dry runs for the newly created routes. Parents will be contacted through the RCS social media/website, ParentSquare and phone calls about the changes. 

Background

RCS has hired Student Transit for nearly 14 years to manage transportation services, including home-to-school, field trips, athletics and partial-day programs for career or special education. Some special services include trips to after-school clubs/mentoring, transporting homeless students longer distances outside of their neighborhood boundaries as federally required, and youth who need to be taken to different relatives on certain days within district boundaries.

McCue said Student Transit didn’t have local hiring problems before the pandemic, but lost a number of team members who were scared to come back. Staffing challenges became consistent.

2-year comparison

For 2024-2025, Student Transit is transporting about 2,700 students, which was an unexpected increase of about 400 kids from last year. That’s the equivalent of eight filled buses.

Student Transit has made it work, but buses are more crowded and the source of the increase is unclear.

Adding to the challenge, many new student registrations came later than expected and continued throughout August. 

However, despite higher ridership this fall, Student Transit notes its services are improving.

Sacha Amen described the company’s 2023-24 on-time performance as poor because of a lack of staff and schedule conflicts. It ended the year with 20 drivers and 30 routes because of staffing challenges. Ten drivers and two monitors were terminated or resigned during the year.

Amen began overseeing RCS’ transportation in October 2023. She said she discovered previous poor management, a lack of accountability and unsafe habits from staff. Despite trying to retrain those employees, gradual separations resulted. Eight were involuntary, which was especially difficult with lean staffing, but Amen said she’d rather err on the side of safety.

The driver shortage meant that routes averaged 45-60 minutes last year, but they’ve decreased to 40-50 minutes.

To rebuild trust in the district and community, Amen said Student Transit worked hard on recruitment campaigns and hired 10 employees before school started to get to 30. However, two legacy drivers unexpectedly left a week before school began. 

To fill that shortage, three drivers were hired and trained. They’ll test for their commercial driver’s licenses this week. 

Amen said bus garage office staff are now receiving dramatically fewer calls from families than they did the first week of school.

What’s next to consider

McCue and Amen noted that RCS offers more flexible transportation services and has shorter walking distances than many other districts.

“The level of transportation the community desires to provide to students is commendable, but it’s very unique,” McCue said.

He said Student Transit will get done whatever the board and community want done, but more conversations about setting reasonable priorities are needed. McCue said spending more money can be an easy way to solve problems, but isn’t usually the best solution.

He said Student Transit needs to bring RCS more options to consider, and he’s committed to resolving issues the best way they can.

McCue said some schools don’t guarantee transportation, offer it free, or allow children to be taken to varying destinations. Some organize a lottery to secure transportation that requires earlier registration.

Amen said Richmond faces challenges in reducing busing because some areas don’t have sidewalks, or they have very busy intersections. She said there’s a lot to consider beyond just plotting stops.

Some local youth organizations are struggling to hire drivers too, so they can’t provide as much after-school assistance as RCS would like.

In other business 

• RCS will conduct a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at its administration building for an additional budget appropriation. Revenues are to come from the state basic grant and textbook fund. A public hearing for the 2025 budget will take place as part of the 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25 board meeting.
• The board only meets once in October. The work session is at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 9, followed by a 6:30 p.m. business meeting. Both are open to the public.
• The board approved bids of $1,654,608.40 for a Test Intermediate School roof from Freedom Roofing, Siding and Windows LLC, and Thor Construction’s $1,894,000 bid for heating/cooling/ventilation at RHS’ art/TV area.
• The board approved an Oct. 31-Nov. 3 field trip to civil rights landmarks in Montgomery, Alabama, for four RHS alternative education students and chaperone. Simon Youth Foundation covers all costs.