transportation vehicles could serve as a beacon of light toward getting all students to school safely. For Scottsdale Unified School District near Phoenix,


the future of outsourcing transportation remains up in the air, as the district last month remained unsure as of when schools would open again for in-person learning. Transportation Director Brendan Wagner said SUSD started outsourcing most of its routes for private specialized schools last year. As a school dis- trict that normally oversees the transportation of about 5,000 students a day over a 275 square-mile area, Wagner said his department needed help. He said when the district does start transporting


students again, he won’t put any COVID-19 require- ments on his five existing transportation partners that he doesn’t plan on doing with his own drivers and vehicles. “I’m not going to hold them to a higher standard than I am planning on operating here,” Wagner shared. “I put together a proposal to my leadership team that does not include social distancing. … In terms of the driver short- age, there’s no way that I could feasibly even entertain the idea of social distancing, which would be putting 14 kids on a school bus.” Instead, he said, drivers are required to wear masks


when students are loading and unloading, and students are required to wear them anytime on the bus. Wagner must trust that his transportation partners


will adhere to the various safety standards, and unless he hears differently, he’s going to assume everything is under control. He said his partners are committed to stu- dent safety, and he doesn’t believe that mission will be jeopardized. “We are going to request their plan when we sign a contract,” Wagner added. One of Scottsdale’s partners is ALC Schools, which has been providing alternative transportation services to school districts for over a decade. Megan Carey, chief development officer for the company, said she antici- pates an influx in transportation services due to social distancing, driver fear and an increase in students protected by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. She said the company’s mission continues to be partnering with districts to give all students an equal opportunity to learn, grow and succeed. Carey said that mission is more important now than ever, as ALC re- mains a flexible mode of transportation, especially when transporting students with special needs. Currently, ALC is actively reaching out to all district partners to better understand their needs, as well as when they will start needing transportation services. “There’s so much happening right now. District needs


are changing, really daily,” Carey explained. “We’re just trying to listen, be flexible, and be prepared for when they need us.” She said ALC has also taken advantage of this time to


improve its technology. The company will be rolling out a suite of tools and features that will be available through a web-based portal. In addition, the company also made improvements to its routing software that enables dis- tricts to be more flexible, giving them more options for the upcoming school year. Carey said ALC will be abiding by all Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines as well as state and district requirements. “We do have protocols such as no touch-loading and unloading, all drivers wearing masks, sanitizing vehicles after each trip,” Carey said. “We have protocols already set in place and those can change district to district. So, while all of these need to be taken very seriously, I also always want to make sure that we reiterate that we transport some of the most vulnerable student populations. They might have sensory disorders, in which they might not be able to wear a mask. So, in those cases we really need to work with the district and the parents and know that we really can’t have a one-size-fits all solution. That’s really what is unique about us.” Transporting students with sensory disorders as well


as nonverbal students also remain a high-level concern for industry consultant Alexandra Robinson. She said because drivers are going to be transporting some of the most vulnerable student populations, they need to remain masked. However, she said, this could mean that some of the students aren’t masked due to health concerns, or if they are, they might not be able to com- municate as effectively. “What are the communication capabilities of the


students that are being transported?” Robinson asked, noting the question is one that should be asked by all alternative transportation providers. “And if they’re nonverbal, who’s riding with them? Because if they’re nonverbal, to me it can’t just be that alternative trans- porter and the nonverbal child [in the vehicle]. There really needs to be another person.” She said whether that person is a parent or guardian


of the child, an aide from the district, or an employee the transportation company provides remains up to local decisions and contracts as well as a student’s Individual- ized Education Program. Theresa Anderson of TMAnderson Consulting sug- gested using flashcards to help students and drivers communicate with each other when wearing face cov- erings, as speech could easily be muffled.


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