SPECIAL REPORT
tation directors have discussed the importance of meal delivery, as it not only provides students with nutrition but also gives them the opportunity to see a familiar district face. Many drivers have also chosen to work voluntarily on the frontlines despite some districts still paying all of its staff during the closures. The largest school district in Geor- gia, Gwinnett Country Public Schools near Atlanta, began delivering meals to students across a 437-square-mile service area. In about a two-week span in March, the district delivered a total of 244,010 meals via the school bus. Through mid-April, Execu- tive Director of Transportation Don Moore said the district was delivering 60,000 meals a day. Meanwhile, South Bend Commu-
nity School Corporation in Indiana, is providing students with dinner, in addition to breakfast and lunch. School bus drivers nationwide are
also delivering Chromebooks and homework packets to student’s doors as many students don’t have access to transportation. Several districts have turned to technology already at their fingertips to alter their services and reroute for more efficient delivery of meals to a greater population. For example, Cody Cox at Community ISD near Dallas used technology the district had already purchased to instantly begin delivering meals to students once schools closed. Cox explained that he used Transfinder technol- ogy to reroute its school buses to better assist students in the neigh- borhood, and he was able to inform the parents through Transfinder’s Infofinder i routing software. Instead of delivering the supplies to cluster stops, as he said many districts are doing, Cox ensures that school bus drivers are delivering to every neigh- borhood in the district so that every
student is being accounted for. He also has a mitigation plan in
place for if a student or family mem- ber contracts the virus and can’t leave their house during the 14 days of required quarantine. In this situ- ation, the district would use a food service van and deliver the meals directly to the student’s doorstep. Changing its daily delivery oper-
ations is only one of the many ways districts and companies are utilizing school buses right now. In Sheridan, Oregon, Delphian School partnered with Heron Books, which offers free online classes for children and teens in a wide variety of subjects. In a press release from the district, more than 60 classes have already been offered during the first three weeks of its launch and are available for viewing on YouTube. But, what about the students who
don’t have access to internet? To ensure every student has access
Speeding THE LEADING CAUSE OF CRASHES, INJURIES AND FATALITIES GLOBALLY
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20 School Transportation News • MAY 2020
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