Managing Complaints with Care Baldwin noted that he only sees a fraction of parent
emails that are sent to the transportation offices. The ones he views are those that escalate to the board of ed- ucation members, local elected officials or the county’s executive office. “This is a direct result of my leadership team members and their ability to diffuse many of the concerns our par- ents have,” he said, adding his team often uses AI tools like ChatGPT to help craft responses to parents. Baldwin provides his staff with pre-built templates so they can feel confident in their communications. “We have to take on the right attitude to handle the
complaints,” he added. “You want to be reserved and able to listen to the parent, to adequately respond. And then when you respond, you want to be able to give solu- tions, that are tangible but are also supported by policy, procedure and practice, so that the parent has some background about why you made the decision, or why you’re sticking with decision and what you’re doing.” He said every decision—such as whether to approve a bus stop change—must be backed up by data. Baldwin regularly runs communication scenarios and profes- sional development sessions with his team. This can include seeking guidance from the communication and engagement team. Drivers receive similar training during their in-service meetings. The volume of communication can be staggering. On the first day of school this year, PGCPS received 6,000 parent phone calls. On the fifth day it had 4,200. By day 10 of school, staff received 1,200. Last month, the district was back to its typical call volume of about 1,000 calls a day. “It can be anything about a bus stop update, a late bus
status, or even a compliment they want to share with a driver, all of it,” Baldwin said. “We’re working to try to push everything to be digital, and push inquiries to our [transportation resolution] system.”
Building on Data and Feedback In 2023, the district commissioned a comprehensive transportation audit as a baseline for improvement. PGCPS partnered with 4Mativ (pronounced formative), a student transportation strategy and technology firm, which analyzed efficiency, staffing, fleet management and customer service. The team conducted interviews and site visits, and produced 12 recommendations. Baldwin prioritized five for immediate action: Aligning
and balancing school bell times, strategically differen- tiating service levels and consolidating stops, auditing walk-boundary safety zones, implementing a codified opt-out practice, and adopting user-centered design to enhance customer service.
58 School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2025
“We chose ones that were easy to implement that
would give us the biggest impact,” Baldwin said. The most significant change was adjusting bell times.
Other recommendations built on existing practices, such as stop consolidation and walk zone reviews. “We wanted [parents] to opt in, but once we started
digging, we needed support from the student informa- tion system, and the numbers were not there to fully do opt-in,” he explained, adding that instead the district switched to an opt-out alternative. “But the goal is to get everybody to opt into transportation so that we have a better, cleaner picture when it comes to routing for the following school year.” Meanwhile, 4Mativ CEO and founder Carl Allen, a for- mer director of transportation for Boston Public Schools, praised Baldwin’s goal-oriented leadership. “He’s really open and uses technology in a lot of great, creative ways,” he said. “Director Baldwin has always been very forward thinking and ahead of a lot of other districts we work with and trying new stuff and openness to that.” For this school year, PGCPS is looking at three more
recommendations: Diversifying modal and vendor mix, expanding alternative supply options and strengthening organizational capabilities through strategic staffing. The mixed models include a fleet of district-owned vans operated by non-CDL district drivers and third-party pro- viders—PGCPS currently uses EverDriven, HopSkipDrive and FirstAlt for students served by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistant Act. Baldwin said sending a school bus for only two students isn’t a fiscally sound practice. He also noted that PGCPS and all other Maryland
county school boards must transition to an all-electric fleet by 2040, though he called that goal “not feasible.” The district currently has 21 electric buses and uses propane-powered mobile charging trailers. Baldwin is advocating for propane as an approved alternative fuel. Additionally, he said, cross-functional teams were cre-
ated with IT, academic programs, data accountability and transportation team members to review program codes, which for PGCPS equates to school boundaries. A process that would normally cause delays and slowed the prog- ress of routers was revamped this school year. He said he brought all the stakeholders together in November of last year to create a task force that worked until July to ensure all program calls were done effectively. District officials shared that Baldwin is data-focused and technology forward. “Director Baldwin is a strate- gic thinker, and it has benefited our school district and our transportation department greatly,” said Charoscar Coleman, COO of PGCPS, adding that the transportation audit of 2023 lasted nearly a year and gave an under- standing of baseline inefficiencies.
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