School Transportation News Magazine | November 2009
[Q&A]
Working with Less but Staying Ahead Rick Boull’t runs one of the largest school
district transportation departments in the country — Los Angeles Unified School Dis- trict. With 885 K-12 schools and 700,000 student riders, there’s a lot on the LAUSD transportation plate. For Boull’t, it’s watch- ing over 3,400 district-owned buses, service
vehicles and vans and 97,000 auxiliary bus trips. STN spoke to Boull’t about recent changes, the benefits of working for a large school district and the emergence of charter schools.
School Transportation News: What are some of the biggest changes that you have had to deal with this year? Rick Boull’t: Te state’s fiscal crises and corresponding funding reductions to school districts has drastically reduced services and available resources, including staffing. Compounding this is the rising costs of doing business, while maintaining some sem- blance of customer service.
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STN: How have the California budget issues affected your de- partment directly? Boull’t: Te cuts to LAUSD have resulted in the elimination of over 150 bus routes, removing over 6,500 students previously transported on school buses and extending ride times for stu- dents up to 90 minutes one way.
STN: What are some of the advantages of working for a large metropolitan school district? Boull’t: Being able to leverage other governmental agencies, community organizations and private industry to provide sup- port services to students, families and school programs that otherwise might be neglected. Also, our size provides purchasing power which can influence pricing for high volume items.
STN: What are some of the challenges? Boull’t: Transporting students to schools and other auxiliary ac- tivities covering in excess of 800 square miles can be daunting. Especially during peak traffic hours.
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STN: How are charter schools in LAUSD affecting operations? Boull’t:We are having to re-evaluate and position our operations to compete for the business of the charter schools. As the char- ter school movement grows, we as service providers need to be responsive to this change and be the provider of choice. In some cases, we may have to limit our services to those areas where we are competitive and understand that the charter schools may re- ceive better service and pricing from private enterprise.
STN: How is your department preparing for state budget issues that might affect transportation in the 2010-2011 school year? Boull’t: First, we continue to implement initiatives to reduce labor, maintenance and fuel costs through automation, strategic sourcing and the introduction of alternative fuels. Secondly, we continue to evaluate program policies to further streamline routes and reduce the required transported student population. Tirdly, as we open new schools and assign more students to a regular traditional calen- dar, our district is changing support positions to better align to this calendar, versus every employee assigned on a 12-month basis. Last- ly, employee reductions, hourly reductions and furloughs may con- tinue to occur until the financial situation improves and stabilizes.
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STN: How can school transportation and public transportation work together amicably in larger metropolitan school districts? Boull’t: Collaboration of resources and services in and around schools must be improved. An example being as fewer students are transported on school buses, the burden may shift to public transit. Having regular interaction would help make the transi- tion much easier for families. n
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