School Bus Fleet, February 2020

SUPPLEMENTAL TRANSPORTATION dont require the same safety and compliance standards as a school bus ALC Schools currently partners with about 400 school districts in a total of 19 states While every state has diferent requirements for alternative vehicle usage Carey says that federal laws like the Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA have encouraged more pupil transporters to think twice about incorporating supplemental services into their fleets operations In 2017 the U S Department of Education amended part of the ESSA to require that all local education agencies that receive funding under Title I Part A of the act coordinate transportation with state or local child welfare agencies for students in foster care The amendment also included changes to the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act which allows homeless students free transportation to their school of origin even if they live in a diferent school district ESSA and McKinney Vento really changed the landscape of alternative vehicle transportation Carey says Within the 20 years of ALC Schools operation weve mostly helped school districts transport special needs students but a large number of those students have also come from the homeless and foster care populations In Rhode Island the change in the ESSA and McKinney Vento had a significant impact on the states school transportation system which is currently managed by TransPar a national provider of pupil transportation consulting and fleet management services As the program changed and the laws changed to encompass transportation for McKinney Vento and foster care students we really had to take a look at finding costeficient ways to transport our low numbers of out of district students says Nicole Martin the systems manager for the Rhode Island Department of Educations RIDE transportation service In some districts we may only have two students attending public school that are in foster care and so thats where our eight passenger minivans have helped Currently Rhode Island requires all 36 of its public school districts as well as charter schools to use its statewide program for their out of district transportation services Additionally RIDE provides service to about 1000 special education students 300 foster care students and 250 McKinney Vento students Alternative vehicles have become a more cost efective option for carrying these students because the rate that we bill each district for these vehicles is much cheaper than using a large school bus Martin explains MEETING STATE DISTRICT REQUIREMENTS From consulting with transportation directors and special education coordinators to school counselors and parents the key is making sure that the alternative vehicle service caters to the needs of the district and its students says Gregg Prettyman the chief operating oficer for ALC Schools Over the years ALC Schools has created in several of the states that it operates in a series of teams to oversee routing and dispatch services field operations and driver compliance QUAL I T Y M A T T E R S 28 SCHOOL BUS FLEET FEBRUARY 2020 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM