[UPDATED 11/22/2024] Durham Bus Plan Rolls Out in December

[Updated to add specific information about groups and the bus numbers assigned to them.]

After the Thanksgiving break, Durham Public Schools will put its new rotational school transportation plan into effect.

Under this plan, DPS would require families on traditional school buses to find alternate transportation one day a week so that drivers could be available on routes serving exceptional children and students covered by the federal McKinney-Vento Act.

It’s expected to last from Dec. 2-20, taking the district through to the Christmas holiday break. Parents should receive details about the plan on Friday, but during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, officials shared the basic outline:

• Different schools and bus numbers will be assigned on a chart to groups A, B, C, D, and E.
• Families in Group A would be assigned Monday. B would be Tuesday, C would be Wednesday, D would be Thursday, and E would be Friday.
• Families with students in multiple different schools – elementary and middle, for example – would need to check for bus numbers within the groups to ensure they are prepared for the right days.

Sheena Cooper, leader of the district’s public affairs operations, told the board that families would be notified this week and that information also would be posted on the DPS website.

During this “temporary tactical patch” period, as DPS planning chief Mathew Palmer described it, transportation workers are finalizing ridership data info and preparing for the next phases in addressing a crisis that has frustrated DPS parents since the 2024-2025 school year started.

“This is not an easy time for transportation,” Palmer told the board. “This is not an easy time for DPS. We are all in this together.”

Some buses have only provided consistent service a few days in a row. Many have routinely run late, leading to lost learning time and students getting marked tardy.

District officials are adding a new code to the data management system, which will be input retroactively so that those students aren’t penalized. The code also should allow DPS to determine which schools and students have been most affected by the critical shortage of drivers.

On Dec. 2, the board meets again to hear from the transportation team about possible next steps, including walk zones and express service. And while DPS continues to hire and train new school bus drivers who need commercial driver’s licenses with school bus certification, the district’s also considering drafting other existing employees who hold CDLs. However, they can’t just be recruited and put behind the wheel unless they pass a drug test and a North Carolina Department of Transportation physical, not to mention ensuring that they have the proper certifications. All told, it could take a CDL holder as much as a month to jump through the necessary hoops, officials said.

The current plan is for rotational coverage to run through Dec. 20, but Board Member Natalie Beyer raised concerns that circumstances may push the plan into January: “It may be a bridge, but it may be a longer bridge.”

Board Chair Millicent Rogers acknowledged the weariness parents have expressed in emails and public comment periods during meetings.

“I get it,” she said. “I’m a parent. I’m a board member. I’m tired. Transportation staff are tired. You’re working tirelessly and we’re grateful for that work. I want everybody, the public, to know we’re asking questions, trying to get as much information as possible. We hear you. We feel you. And our staff is doing a great job trying to get us the information we need.”

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis urged families to recognize that “our bus drivers do more than just drive buses. They purchase shoes, coats, food for our students. They are helping us with our mission in the classroom …. I encourage and urge the community wrap our arms around our school bus drivers.”

On Friday, DPS released official information about the rotational service plan:

• Group A : Families are responsible for transporting students on Mondays : December 2, 9, and 16.
• Group B: Families are responsible for transporting students on Tuesdays : December 3, 10, and 17.
• Group C: Families are responsible for transporting students on Wednesdays : December 4, 11, and 18.
• Group D: Families are responsible for transporting students on Thursdays : December 5, 12, and 19.
• Group E: Families are responsible for transporting students on Fridays: December 6, 13, and 20.

Southpoint Access Editor and Publisher Wes Platt can be reached at southpointaccessnews@gmail.com or 407-616-1346.