Transportation departments in high-growth districts employ a range of strategies and tactics to transport an ever-increasing number of students where they need to go. WRITTEN BY ERIC WOOLSON
S
izzling-hot local economies around the country are sparking rapid growth in select school districts—and transportation departments are often feel- ing the resulting heat. Few places may be hotter than the Frisco (Texas) Independent School District outside of Dallas. Already with a student en-
rollment over 60,500, it is projected to grow by at least another 55 percent by 2030. “The economy is good down here and our community is a great place to live,” said Doug Becker, Frisco’s director of transportation. He noted that people have been drawn to the north Dallas suburb by its location and the number of businesses that are flocking to the area or starting-up locally. It doesn’t hurt that the district is also home to a dazzling 91-acre complex for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, as well as the NHL’s Dallas Stars and three other professional sports teams. The school district operated 116 routes in 2012, when Becker assumed his lead-
ership role. Today, it has 171. “It’s been sort of a slow creep, like when you cook a lobster real slow. The heat has been ramping up every year, but it has not been jarring yet,” he said. One reason the growth has remained manageable, is the close working relation-
ship with municipal staff, which includes monthly meetings with city planners and engineers. “We talk with the people tracking the demographics. They let us know new areas
that are coming up and we plot our forecasting off that,” Becker said. “We get some surprises, but not a whole lot. Last year, we opened four schools. This year, we have none, so we’ll get a break.” With that keen focus on population trends, Becker and his team keep a solid
handle on annual bus purchases and route planning. Frisco ISD is also in the pro- cess of having its fourth transportation facility built, with an anticipated open date in time for the 2021-2022 school year. The facility will complement its original site and satellites that were constructed in 2005 and 2008. “Driver availability is our big challenge, like it is for everybody around the nation.
A good economy certainly doesn’t help us,” Becker said. “At last count, we were 12 drivers short, but when you have a total pool of 200 drivers, that’s manageable. A couple of years ago, we were 30 drivers short, and we really felt that.” To address that situation, Becker’s department strives to keep recruiting meth-
www.stnonline.com 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
