Connections

Greetings, ACPS families, staff, and Albemarle County Community Members,

As we enter the last quarter of the school year, I want to thank you again for all you do to support our students, our schools and our departments. With summer not far away, I want to forecast some important changes in our transportation services for next school year.

Prior to the pandemic, we struggled — as have many school divisions throughout the country — to fully staff our transportation department even though our bus driver positions offer full-time retirement, health benefits and competitive pay. These shortages were exacerbated by the pandemic, and here in Albemarle, they resulted in delayed services for students and a great deal of frustration for families and staff.

Throughout this challenge, I’d like to recognize the truly tireless efforts of our drivers and transportation staff to go well beyond their job descriptions to ensure that all of our children are able to safely ride to and from school. Even with our need for more bus drivers, eight out of ten of our school buses arrive on time and a full 97 percent of our students are at school within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Our school staff have been incredibly flexible, extending their work in the afternoon to supervise and provide additional learning and play opportunities for students waiting for their buses. Schools have adapted their schedules in the morning to support late-arriving students and student attendance steadily is improving. We are seeing positive impacts upon student learning.

Last fall, our human resources department completed a third-party study of compensation for all employee groups. It found that we were below the highest wages paid to bus drivers by other school divisions in our area. This past December, our School Board raised starting wages for bus drivers from $17.18 to $21.50 per hour, placing us at the top of our competitive market. We are seeing increased applications, which is making it possible to begin to slowly add drivers, as the training to become a driver is extensive and can take up to two months.

We also have taken several steps to reduce inconsistency and service delays. These have included consolidating bus routes, adding smaller buses that can be operated by a driver without a commercial driving license, considering partnerships with private companies who can supply drivers, changing state legislation to expand opportunities for retirees to return to work sooner and offering training to teachers and other staff interested in driving during off-hours. By repurposing staffing from consolidated bus routes, we plan to staff several driver-assistants on buses to support drivers and students on the bus, especially when we have a novice driver.

As we begin to plan for next year, we are exploring several possible changes to our transportation methods. Our transportation department is currently developing and evaluating these changes and will share more as details are finalized.

• One possible change is to require all families to register their children to be bus riders if they want transportation. Starting the year with inflated ridership numbers causes extreme delays until the true numbers are established and routes can be consolidated. Starting with more accurate numbers by requiring registration will allow for greater route consolidation and fuller use of buses during the first week of school. If you have other means to transport your student, please do not register for transportation. This will allow us to provide better service to those who need it and we appreciate everyone who has done this already.

• A second possible step is to eliminate regular education student pick ups on private roads in neighborhoods where there is a safe community place to have just a few larger pick up locations. This will reduce the time (sometimes up to 45 minutes) that a bus is circulating through a private neighborhood and will allow the bus to be more fully used for more than one neighborhood or route.

• A third strategy may be to increase walking distances to school where safety allows. Many neighborhoods have fully embraced a community approach to walking with students to school. I have seen this happen at elementary and middle schools that I have visited so far this year and it's really impressive to see. In neighborhoods where there is a need, we will explore having staff collaborate with communities to designate walk leaders.

• A fourth possible change is to stagger arrival times and utilize more stacked routes. This means a bus will drop off some students early to school and then pick up additional students and bring them to school on time. This change would affect the afternoon as well. Some students will leave on time and others will be dismissed later.

It is important that our entire Albemarle community be aware of the steps we are taking to provide more predictable and timely transportation for our students and families. Public education has faced challenging times over the past few years at the national and state level; however, I know how highly you value our schools. As superintendent, I want you to know that I appreciate the premium you place on the work we do to make good on your investments and the trust you place in us with your children. I pledge to make the most of your investment and to constantly strive for improvements in the learning experiences and outcomes for our students.

Every single school day, our drivers and students travel more than 10,000 miles, and they do it safely. We want all of our students to — in addition to riding safely — be on time.

Our unsung heroes this year have been our bus drivers. Their strong devotion to safety and to their responsibility to support each child’s learning opportunities is extraordinary. They often drive double routes and always make themselves available to fill an emergency need. If you have not seen one of our recent TV ads, I hope you will watch Michele’s story of what it is like to drive a school bus for our division.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying to become a school bus driver for ACPS, our application can be found online.

Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew S. Haas, Superintendent

A lot has happened this month! Here's what we think is important to know:

Visit our website for more information on how to apply to one of our advisory boards.

Email: superintendentoffice@k12albemarle.org
Website: k12albemarle.org
Location: 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Phone: (434) 296-5820
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K12Albemarle
Twitter: @k12albemarle