JULY 2024 UPDATE

Propel Schools Families,

We hope you are enjoying a happy and safe summer break! Our school leadership teams and our administrative office teams are continuing to prepare for our 2024-2025 school year, which will begin on the following schedule:

Thursday, August 15, 2024 - Only the following scholar groups will report for a full day of school:

• Scholars who are new to Propel Schools

• Scholars who are entering Kindergarten

• Scholars who are entering Grade 9
• Propel Braddock Hills Middle School scholars who are entering Grade 6
• Propel Montour Middle School scholars who are entering Grade 6
  

This day will consist of:

• Meeting and making connections with peer scholars
• Meeting principals, educators and staff
• Learning more about behavioral expectations, school routines and our network-wide Propel Habits

On Friday, August 16, 2024, all scholars will report for a full day of school.

Your scholar will receive transportation from the school district in which you reside. As such, there may be action items required, some with very strict submission deadlines. Failure to adhere to these deadlines may result in a delay in your scholar’s transportation assignment. Propel Schools has provided this schedule information to your residential school district's transportation teams.

As always, thank you for your time and for choosing Propel Schools as your partner in education.

Dr. Tina Chekan

Superintendent/CEO

Propel Schools

The Department of Human Services (DHS) Summer EBT program is now called SUN Bucks! This new grocery benefits program that provides households with a one-time payment of $120 for each eligible child to buy food while school is out. Benefits can be used at local participating retailers to purchase groceries.

Information about the SUN Bucks Program can be found on the DHS SUN Bucks webpage and in this letter. Please note that Propel Schools is a CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) school. This means that your family will not automatically qualify for the program. You can, however, submit a SUN Bucks application for your family in July, when the application goes live on the DHS SUN Bucks webpage. DHS has created an interactive tool that can be used to determine if you should submit a program application. You can find that tool HERE.

It is important to note that schools cannot assist families with SUN Bucks benefit questions. Schools do not have access to the DHS system or records. Please visit the SUN Bucks webpage to find answers to your questions.

Q. Who is responsible for my scholar's transportation to and from their Propel School?

A. Transportation is provided by the school district in which your family resides, based upon the address of record in our Skyward Student Information System. If you have moved and have not updated your address with Propel Schools, please complete THIS FORM as soon as possible so that transportation is not delayed for your scholar/scholars.

Q. How do I request transportation from the school district that I live in?

A. Transporting districts usually require families to request transportation each year. In some cases you have to visit the school district's offices and submit the request form in person. In other cases, you may only need to complete an online form.

Q. There are children from my neighborhood who attend the same Propel School that my scholar will attend. Can I just place my scholar on that bus?

A. No. According to state law, each scholar must be 'rostered' on a bus, meaning that your scholar will be officially assigned to a bus by the district.

Q. On some days, my scholars go to their grandparents' house after school. Can they get on a bus that goes in that direction instead of their regular bus?

A. No. A scholar is only permitted to ride the bus to which they are assigned by the transporting school district. This means that scholars are not permitted to ride ANY bus other than the one t which they are assigned, including a friend's or family member's bus.

Q. When will I know about my scholar's transportation? Does Propel notify me?

A. Transportation rosters and schedules are completed by transporting districts in August. Transporting districts will notify families about how families can access their scholar's transportation information. Many transporting school districts now utilize apps to keep scholar families informed about transportation items such as bus stop delays due to traffic or road conditions.

Q. Are there cameras on school buses?

A. Most, if not all, school buses are equipped with electronic monitoring devices for the safety of all scholars. Transportation providers reserve the right to share school bus footage with school leadership teams. Individual company policies may be in place regarding the sharing of footage with families of scholars.

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT SCHOLAR TRANSPORTATION

• It is an expectation that Propel scholars will follow behavior guidelines set forth in the Scholar and Family Handbook. When scholars do not follow these guidelines and/or display unsafe behaviors while being transported, they may be given a bus behavior referral. Repeated unsafe behaviors could lead to a scholar being suspended from school bus transportation temporarily or even permanently. Bus transportation is a privilege, not a right.

• Kindergarten students MUST have an adult at the bus stop for discharge. The bus driver is not permitted to discharge a kindergarten student unless a parent/guardian and/or a responsible teenage sibling is present at the designated stop to receive the student. If a responsible party is not present, then the student will be taken to the bus garage from where the student's parent/guardian will be contacted and required to promptly pick up their student. If a parent or guardian cannot be reached, the child may be taken to the closest police station.
  

• The safety of your scholar at the bus stop is the responsibility of the parent/guardian until the scholar boards the school bus. Likewise, the safety of the scholar is the responsibility of the parent/guardian as soon as the scholar departs the school bus at their correct bus stop at the end of the day.

• No person may enter a school bus without the prior authorization of the transporting school district or the bus driver. Any person that attempts to enter a school bus without such authorization and/or refuses to get off of the bus when directed to do so is subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both pursuant to Section 5517 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code: 5517 Unauthorized school bus entry. (a) Offense defined.-- A person who enters a school bus without prior authorization of the driver or a school official with intent to commit a crime or disrupt or interfere with the driver, or a person who enters a school bus without prior authorization of the driver or a school official who refused to disembark after being ordered to do so by the driver, commits a misdemeanor of the third degree. (b) Notice.-- A school district may place a notice at the entrance of the school bus that warns against unauthorized entry. (June 11, 1998, P.L.460, No.64, eff. 60 days) 1998 Amendment. Act 65 added section 5517.

• The Pennsylvania Department Of Education offers answers to Frequently Asked Questions about school transportation.

If you have already submitted your transportation request to PPS, please do not submit a duplicate request.

If you live in the City Of Pittsburgh within the boundaries of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district (PPS) and would like transportation for your scholar for the 2024-2025 school year, you must take action now. Failure to act immediately may cause a delay in transportation for your scholar!

• IF YOU RECEIVED A PPS TRANSPORTATION LETTER FROM YOUR PROPEL SCHOOL, THE LETTER CONTAINS YOUR SCHOLAR(S) PPS ID NUMBER WHICH IS NECESSARY TO COMPLETE YOUR TRANSPORTATION REQUEST. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LETTER TO REQUEST TRANSPORTATION IMMEDIATELY.

• IF YOU DID NOT receive a PPS transportation letter from your Propel School (or received the letter and no longer have the letter) then you do not have the necessary PPS Student ID number for your scholar. Please take the following steps to request a PPS Student ID for your scholar and then request PPS transportation:

• Please reach out to PPS Parent Hotline via telephone at 412-529-HELP [4357], or via email at parenthotline@pghschools.org. The Parent Hotline operates Monday through Friday and they will provide the PPS Student ID for your scholar(s).

Please note that the PPS Student ID is different from your scholar’s Propel Schools ID number. These numbers cannot be interchanged.

You can find the information about REQUIRED steps that families must take to request 2024-2025 transportation from PPS by clicking HERE.

Please understand that the transportation process takes time. PPS notification letters for families and initial route sheets for schools will be sent no later than one week before your first day of school.

If you reside within the boundaries of WHSD and would like to request transportation for your scholar, please review the information about requesting 2024-2025 transportation HERE.

If you reside within the boundaries of the PHSD and would like to request transportation for your scholar, please review the information HERE.

If you reside within the boundaries of EA, please click HERE for information about 2024-2025 transportation.

If you reside within the boundaries of the Gateway School District, please review the 2024-2025 transportation information HERE.

If you live within the boundaries of the Sto-Rox School District, please click HERE for 2024-2025 transportation information.

If you live within the boundaries if the McKeesport School District, please click HERE for the 2024-2025 transportation information.

If you reside within the boundaries of the Montour School District, please click HERE for 2024-2025 transportation information.

If you reside within the boundaries of the Penn Hills School District, please click HERE for 2024-2025 transportation information.

Please click the links below for transportation information from the following school districts:

• Baldwin Whitehall
• Carlynton
• Chartiers Valley
• Cornell
• Jefferson Hills
• Keystone Oaks
• Moon
• Norwin
• Plum
• Shaler Area

If the school district in which you reside IS NOT listed, please contact your Propel School for additional information.

Each year, families of scholars MUST complete an Emergency Contact Form for each of their scholars who attends a Propel School. This form will provide the school with contact information for individual(s) to be contacted by the school in an emergency situation, if the parent or guardian cannot be reached. Please note:

• One form MUST be completed for each scholar who attends a Propel School, even if your scholars attend the same school. The form can be found HERE.
• Even if you completed the form last year, a new form must be completed for this year.

In July and August, we will share:

• The 2024-2025 K-12 Scholar and Family Handbook for your review and signature.

• The Family Food Service Survey for your completion. Propel will again apply to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for the 2024-2025 academic year. CEP is a key provision of The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, and allows the nation’s highest poverty districts and schools to serve all students free meals without the burden of collecting household applications. This alternative saves districts and schools time and money by streamlining paperwork and administrative requirements. CEP:
• Gives food service professionals more time to focus on preparing nutritious meals their students will enjoy
• Gives students more time to eat those meals by cutting down on time spent in the lunch line.
  

Because all students receive meals at no charge, individual children at CEP schools no longer have to worry about the stigma associated with free or reduced price status. And most importantly, by offering all students a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, CEP helps boost participation, helping schools ensure more students come to class well-nourished and ready to learn. For more information, visit: http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/community-eligibility-provision.

Your participation in this confidential survey is crucial as Propel must display proof that ~40% of the scholars who attend Propel Schools meet the eligibility standards.