DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991
HAS HOMELESS TRANSPORTATION INCREASED IN THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR?
41%
5% 7%
47%
a name with a face,” Taylor added. He also warned that problems could arise when home- less advocates overpromise parents or students. “Sometimes, you have to say, ‘Tat was a nice idea, but we just can’t do that’,” he said. Te Houston staff also holds an annual meeting with surrounding districts to pre- pare for the needs of homeless students. “If they were in a district that bordered
ours, we’d provide transportation without question,” he said. Taylor opposes inter-district transfers
No Yes Not Applicable I don’t know Of 168 responses to STN special needs survey
students, you’re going to hear about it from parents, and you’re also altering something that has worked very well.” Houston staff would meet personally with homeless shelter managers because “it puts
that “put kids in places you don’t expect kids to be, like a parking lot.” Instead, he favors arrangements, in which one district transports a student in the morning and the second district handles the entire afternoon trip. When drivers cross through a district to pick up a homeless student, “I let them know we’re coming through so they don’t wonder what’s going on,” said Taylor. Gervais noted a common misperception is that districts cannot use special education vehicles to transport homeless students. Although it is allowed, be cautious when adding stops so as not to create a negative
impact for the students with disabilities assigned to the bus. She advised transpor- tation directors review recently updated transportation guidelines from the National Center for Homeless Education. Taylor is accustomed to daily logistical
challenges but said he can still spend several days creating a workable schedule for a student in a shelter only to learn the family did not return the next day. “You feel like you failed them, and if you’d
worked harder, maybe they would’ve stayed,” he said. “But we do work hard. You have to accept if they couldn’t stay at that shelter more than two days, it was out of your control.” It’s important, Gervais insisted, for trans-
portation directors to meticulously record their McKinney-Vento compliance costs. “We understand the benefits, but not the cost. Whether it’s by the mile, trip, driver cost or individual student, however you track it, it’s really important we put a number to the real transportation costs,” she contended, noting such information can be powerful data to share with state and federal elected officials.
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