doing it,’ Coates said. “So, we are going to look at that and maybe budget for next year.” Center Grove
45%
of districts currently contract with alternative transportation providers to transport certain student populations. (Out of 75 responses.)
If you’re contracting with a TNC or alt- transportation provider, did you
initiate the contract due to the school bus driver shortage?
52%N/A 26%No 22% Yes
(Out of 73 responses.)
Community School Corporation in Indi- ana also provides all transportation ser- vice in-house. Sarah Pitts, the transpor- tation director, said the department also covers McKinney-Ven- to Act and foster care students with 14-pas- senger activity buses that do not require a CDL to operate. “The number of
students transported changes all the time. Currently we’ve got seven in one activity bus, five in another,” Pitts said. “You don’t need a CDL to drive those, so we have regular licensed drivers who are transportation department employees.” While Pitts said this school year has been good, so far, last year was a different story. The driver shortage problem is only solved until tomorrow. Pitts added that she’s heard of alter-
Newport News Public Schools in Virginia has a need for non- yellow vehicles to transport certain students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness, but so far it is opting to keep the additional service in-house.
native transportation services, but she hasn’t had time to look into them yet. Diana Mikelski, director of trans-
portation for Township High School District 211 in Palatine, Illinois, said she uses third-party vendors for special needs and homeless students who live outside the district, but she preferred not to identify the companies. She said the district is down 15 to 20 drivers, but routes are covered by other employees who are filling in. “All of my school bus mechanics are
certified to drive school buses. I have individuals called coordinators who sub
28 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2022
drive for me,” Mikelski said. “For stu- dents in special programs outside the district we do use vendors. They use vans, I’ve got a few medical carriers that are certified for student transportation by the state.” Mikelski noted that vendor drivers
must submit to the same fingerprint- ing, background checks as CDL drivers and complete a curriculum class that they must renew every year. She said the state reviews the documentation and dictates the curriculum. There is a certain amount of insurance other vendors must maintain, vehicles must be inspected every year, and they must be plated and have the company name on the vehicle and proper license plate. “I was going to set up my own fleet pre-COVID, but when covid hit I lost
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