KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A transplant from Miami, Anallive Calle learned her way around Kansas City from behind the wheel of a big yellow school bus.

The tablet near the dash provides turn-by-turn directions to every stop and checks each kid on and off the bus throughout her route. It’s helped her navigate the narrow roads and one-ways that stretch through one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.

And from her phone, she can check on the status of her own son and whether he made the bus each morning and afternoon.

“So it’s transparent all the way,” she said. “You know when your child is picked up and where they’re at every moment.”

Last school year, Kansas City Public Schools started a new transportation contract with Zum, a company that provides busing services for districts across the country.

With the new vendor, drivers welcomed updates like air conditioning and tinted windows that keep the new fleet comfortable. But they also were given a suite of new technology — a main driver of the 15,000-student urban school district’s decision to ink a $100 million, 5-year contract with Zum.

Aside from navigation, the buses are loaded with live cameras inside and out. Checking in at the tablet allows parents to track their kids and schools to get a headcount on that day’s breakfast and lunch. From the bus barn’s dispatch office, a large screen shows the location of each bus, its exact speed, whether it’s running on time — and even the driver’s rating from parents.

Derrick Gines, a Zum driver and safety trainer with 10 years of experience, said the technology built into today’s buses make drivers and students safer.

“Versus yesteryear, they were designed for freight — human freight,” he said. “But now, there’s so much safety wrapped around this thing.”

While the iconic yellow buses might look like those of yore, school systems big and small are increasingly investing in a new wave of on-board technology.

New software programs monitor engine components, alerting transportation departments to maintenance needs. Other tools create the most optimal routes, saving on fuel, staff and bus costs. Turn-by-turn navigation and student manifests help ensure that no driver is lost and no kid is left behind. And live video feeds can help with student behavior issues — even allowing a school principal to speak to students on the bus in real time, in some cases.

This newfangled technology is a stark contrast to the machinery and aesthetics of the yellow bus, which have remained largely unchanged for decades, said Ryan Gray, editor-in-chief of School Transportation News, which covers the industry.

“Even when you walk onto a school bus, it still looks the same,” he said. “But the inner workings have just completely changed. All of the advanced electronics in it — the wiring to make all of this technology work, whether it be the hardware or the software — it’s grown by leaps and bounds.”

Schools see some of these technologies as intuitive progress: Technology has reshaped many other facets of public education, while many bus drivers were stuck with paper maps and CB radios. But with the rise of new technology comes new risks, and some advocates are cautious about the security of all the data flowing through yellow buses.

A booming market of vendors and limited regulations on bus tech has given more responsibility to school IT and transportation departments. But Gray said most school districts are embracing these new tools — if they can afford them.

“It always comes down to money,” he said. “I think that if they think they have the money, they’re going to want to buy this stuff.

School systems and tech companies say these tools can improve student safety, create efficiencies and help alleviate the chronic shortage of bus drivers.

“It’s a huge recruiting tool,” said Jason Salmons, transportation director for Bentonville Schools in northwest Arkansas.

Bentonville contracts with Transportant, a Kansas-based company, to equip its buses with new camera and tracking technology. Salmons said the navigation and student tracking provide peace of mind to drivers, who can easily traverse new neighborhoods. The seven live cameras on each bus also provide security if an incident arises.

About 13,000 of the district’s 20,000 students ride buses across 135 daily routes. In addition to an upfront cost, he said the school system pays a subscription of about $90,000 per year.

The software tracks not only every bus, but also every student’s boarding and disembarkment, even taking photos of the kids. If something happens, law enforcement can see where a child was and what they were wearing at dropoff — providing a “priceless” service, Salmons said.

With real-time tracking — much like a rideshare customer would see on their screen — parents and students view buses as more reliable, he said. With more precise pickup times, students don’t wait outside in the cold as long and older kids can even get a few more minutes of sleep, Salmons said.

“High schoolers use the app as their bible,” he said.

Data privacy

Given the national driver shortage and parents’ focus on reliability, Cassie Creswell understands the appeal of the new bus technology. But she has concerns about the growing loads of data being collected.

“It’s a mixed bag on this stuff,” said Creswell, the co-chair of the national Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, which advocates to protect student data.

That group has pushed to keep cameras out of classrooms, but hasn’t taken a formal position on school buses, she said. Creswell, a parent of a Chicago Public Schools student, said the more data that is collected — such as GPS locations and video footage — the more opportunities for that data to be sold or illicitly .

“Are we actually clearing away stuff that you really shouldn’t hold on to forever?” she asked. “We’re so careless with student data — even very sensitive data — and we’re very careless about the long-term protection of that data.”

School systems interviewed by Stateline said their bus data is being securely stored separately from other student records and that data such as videos are routinely deleted.

Alan Fairless, a founder and chief technology officer of the tech provider Transportant, previously worked in building encrypted tech products.

He said the company doesn’t sell any student data and encrypts the memory of each device — so, someone stealing a tablet off a bus would have no access to its memory. The company was created in 2018 to tackle parent and school concerns about bus reliability and delays.

Fairless said he quickly learned many districts struggle with high driver turnover because of student behavior issues on board.

By providing multiple cameras that can be accessed live, he said, the company’s product provides a new layer of support to drivers.

“Now, when something happens, they push a button and a dispatcher or principal is going to watch that bus in real time,” he said.

Fairless said one school district has what it calls a seven-minute rule: When a driver alerts of an incident, a dispatcher aims to watch the video, figure out what happened and notify parents over text or phone call within seven minutes.

“The effect is, that video arrives to the parents, and now they know the real problem, and they know that before the student comes home and creates some other version of the story,” he said. “So now, it’s like the parents and the school district are working together to solve the problem.”

Since launching, the company has contracted with 88 school systems in 19 states to provide its all-inclusive tech suite that includes the app for families, on-board Wi-Fi, camera systems and routing services.

While prices can vary, school districts typically pay about $3,600 per bus up front and an annual subscription cost of about $69 per bus, said Jeff Shackelford, vice president of sales.

Changing parent demands

The addition of Transportant has helped keep parents informed in Oregon’s Estacada School District, which sprawls across 750 square miles southeast of Portland.

“It’s been great customer service for our families to just see, just like when someone orders an Uber, they can keep track of where their kid is at,” said Maggie Kelly, a spokesperson for the school system of about 2,000 students.

Kelly said the district expects to make up some of its initial investment in the technology as it realizes savings from more efficient bus routes.

Parents are demanding more real-time information on bus times and locations, said Rick D’Errico, a spokesperson for Transfinder, whose products build more efficient bus routes and provide tracking apps for parents.

“If I can track a burrito order, why can’t I track a bus?” D’Errico said. “Parents these days expect their districts to have ways to notify them on individualized ETAs and alerts for when their kid is on their routes, and not rely on schoolwide email blasts.”

Recently, school districts in Alaska, Texas and Wyoming have launched the company’s apps, which are free for parents.

Such services can provide savings by cutting back on the number of drivers and buses in operation. But they also relieve pressure on dispatchers, who can be besieged with parent phone calls during disruptions or delays.

Since rolling out a new bus tracking app this year, the St. Johns County School District in northeast Florida has fielded far fewer parent calls.

That app is just the latest addition to a portfolio of advanced onboard technology, said Jonah Paxton, transportation fleet technology foreman at the district, which serves about 27,000 bus riders.

The 52,000-student school system intentionally purchased separate products for bus cameras, parent tracking and driver navigation. Paxton said that allows the school system to avoid getting stuck with a single provider that could demand higher prices in the future.

“We’re not locked into a single sort of a walled-garden of products, which gives us a lot more freedom to pick and choose which products we like, which ones we don’t like, and gives us a little more negotiating power,” he said.

To ensure security, the school system stores video files on its own servers rather than those of outside vendors, he said. The district has a specific video retention policy and it blurs out student faces if videos are ever requested under the state’s public records law.

Paxton said student and driver safety drives many of the tech decisions for the school’s fleet of more than 300 buses.

“Buses are vastly different than they were even five,10 years ago,” he said. “I think many people who haven’t ridden a bus in a while can think of the bus as sort of an unpleasant place, or kind of the Wild West of schooling, but they’ve really come a long way.”

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira contributed to this story. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

There’s just one big drawback for Tyson in this city, where more than half of students attend charters  — transportation.

Tyson usually drops her son, who is 9, off with an aunt early each morning. The aunt then brings him and other kids to Paramount. “It’s a major issue,” said Tyson. “Parents like me have to reach out to other parents to get help.”

Like most other states, Indiana doesn’t require or pay for buses to bring charter students to classes, which advocates are pushing for as Indiana continues its aggressive support of charter and private schools. 

Republican legislators, who want an overhaul of school transportation, are considering two bills that would help charter and private schools with transportation.

One bill would combine busing for district, charter and private school students into a single system in Indianapolis and four other cities. The other bill gives charters more money, which could then be used for busing.

The lack of busing is such a hot-button issue that one Indiana charter network advertises on billboards that they offer students transportation. And one Indianapolis charter school director called the lack of busing “an equity issue.”

Some charter schools in Indianapolis — the city most affected by the bills — dig into their budgets to pay as much as $1 million a year for buses. Most, like Paramount, don’t want to sacrifice academics for transportation. That leaves parents like Tyson to fend for themselves, often making logistically complicated arrangements, such as carpooling with other families or relatives. It also means long lines of cars jamming streets around schools as parents line up to drop students off and pick them up.

Tyson and her aunt have developed “a system” to get their kids to school. “Some days I’m off work and I do the pickup, but it gets hard,” she said.

Transportation has long been a pressure point in Indiana and nationally for charter and voucher schools, with backers arguing students have to be able to get to a school for it to be a real choice. 

School districts often balk at paying to take students to schools they view as competition. Practically, district and charter school schedules don’t always align, creating conflicts around drop off and pickup times.

The education pro-charter advocacy group ExcelInEd rates Indiana as one of 20 states with “limited” transportation for charter and private school students. Neighboring states such as Illinois and Ohio, are rated as “fair” to charter students by offering similar busing as district students.

The busing bill has been put on hold, however, while the state is embroiled in a battle over the broader issue of how it pays for charter schools. Senate Bill 518, would shift some local property taxes from school districts to charters. It passed the Senate last month after heated debate.

The Indianapolis school board has pushed back, calling for a moratorium on adding new charter schools and maintaining local control. Board members and residents object to state plans to take money from the district and give it to charters, saying it would force them to close 20 schools.

Backers say sharing taxes is needed to close a funding gap between districts and charter schools — a gap of $8,000 in Indianapolis with the district spending $18,500 and charters $10,600. Critics say districts will have to close schools and cut programs if they lose money.

If passed, the tax-sharing bill could give charters enough money to afford buses for students. That’s one reason parents like Ada Remus, whose son attends Edison School of the Arts, an unusual independent school in Indianapolis, supports the tax-sharing, even as the Indianapolis Public Schools district opposes it.

“Even when great schools exist, they often lack transportation, leaving families like mine on the far east side without access,” Remus told the Indianapolis Public Schools board last week. “If funding were more equitable, more families, including mine, would have access to better schools without worrying about how to get there.” 

Other Indianapolis parents and teachers blasted state officials for threatening to take money away from the district and raised concerns over what might be cut.

“Everyone in this room, commissioners or not, must realize that for the foreseeable future, the state will be run by rural and suburban Republicans with neither interest in nor affection for the city of Indianapolis,” city resident Guthrie Beyer told the board.

Alecia Ostler, executive director of the Invent Learning Hub charter school, said she decided to pay for buses when the school launched six years ago to make sure transportation didn’t prevent families from enrolling. She now pays nearly $200,000 a year for three buses that transport 60 percent of her students. 

“This is inner-city, so quite honestly, there are just some situations where families are like, ‘I don’t feel comfortable with my child having to walk there,’” Ostler said. “But then we have some families that don’t have transportation, so they really lean on that bus. They’re not going to be able to get them here without that.”

“Transportation is an equity issue,” she added. “There needs to be consideration given to the needs of families.”

A small group of charter or independent schools avoid those expenses by partnering with the Indianapolis Public Schools as part of its unique Innovation Schools network — in which the district shares a mix of busing, school buildings and technology support with 30 schools that would typically be shunned as competitors.

District officials estimate they spend about $12 million a year to provide transportation for 17 of the 30 Innovation Schools. Those include KIPP Indy charter schools that boast of having “Transportation Available” on billboards promoting them.

“It’s core and essential to our model,” said Andy Seibert, KIPP Indy’s executive director.

Advocates are still holding out hope for a common transportation system that would drastically change school busing in the city. State Rep. Bob Behning, chairman of the House education committee, has proposed creating a central authority to oversee transportation for students of district, charter and private schools. 

Indianapolis Public Schools officials object to how Behning’s proposal would put busing under a new panel mostly appointed by state officials. District officials oppose the state’s Republican supermajority picking a panel overseeing the city’s largely minority and Democratic residents.

“The question really needs to be debated by the community instead of as a piece of legislation that comes down the pipeline,” said IPS Deputy Superintendent Andrew Strope. “It kind of takes away the power of the people through an elected board.”

A Connecticut-based school bus company awarded an expanded contract to provide transportation for Rhode Island students is apologizing for service disruptions that left families scrambling to get their children to and from school in the first couple weeks of school.

Service disruptions attributed to a shortage of drivers led the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to issue a corrective action plan last Friday to DATTCO Motorcoach, the company awarded a three-year, $20 million statewide bus contract in May. The contract expanded DATTCO’s existing service area to span most of the state, from Westerly to Woonsocket, and the majority of the state’s urban core.

It was unclear how many children were stranded without bus service, but they included children with disabilities who were not picked up for school or whose families were called to come get them in the afternoon because bus service became unavailable. The problems drew fierce condemnation on Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Rhode Island and Rhode Island Center for Justice. The advocacy organizations demanded in a that RIDE correct the issues by Tuesday, sooner than the deadline of 10 days RIDE set in its to DATTCO on Sept. 6.

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“DATTCO has left multiple students in wheelchairs for hours at their schools,” Lisa Odom-Villella, deputy commissioner for instructional programs at RIDE, wrote in the Sept. 6 letter outlining a corrective action plan.

Families of kids who were left without school bus transportation may seek compensation for any resulting travel costs, according to state education officials. Parents of affected children have been contacted about the reimbursement process.

“We are deeply sorry to any students or families who were or continue to be affected by the challenges that we faced last week as the school year began,” Paul Mayer, a spokesperson for DATTCO, wrote in an email Wednesday to Rhode Island Current.

Mayer said the vast majority of routes DATTCO services in Rhode Island are running as scheduled, and noted the company’s otherwise successful track record in recent years. 

“We know that it is not acceptable and that our apology must be followed up by action, and to that end we have already made significant progress with each passing day as routes become staffed with permanent drivers and aides.

“Though many of the immediate concerns raised have already been rectified or are in the process of being corrected, we know that our work is not done.”

Morente said two routes would be affected on Thursday afternoon and that parents had already been contacted.

“DATTCO has reported that all morning routes now have drivers, but one route did not run because a driver was out sick,” Morente wrote in an email Monday. “The vast majority of students have not been impacted and DATTCO has sought ways to increase coverage.”

After state officials first became aware of service problems on Aug. 29, they reassigned 26 of approximately 300 bus routes to First Student, which already services parts of Providence and Bristol counties for RIDE’s statewide bussing system. DATTCO admitted they had no way of fully staffing the routes.

“RIDE was under the impression that all the remaining Dattco routes would be covered the week of September 3,” Morente said. But it was clear that was untrue on the first day of school in Providence (school districts start at different times). RIDE became aware DATTCO was having individual drivers do multiple runs, which can slow and complicate service. RIDE took five more routes and awarded them to First Student, who had enough properly licensed drivers.

First Student, a national bussing company based in Cincinnati, will keep the 31 routes for the remainder of the three-year contract, Morente said. The routes run from the East Bay up to Woonsocket.

First Student did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

In May, state officials awarded most of their rezoned transportation districts to DATTCO after a competitive bid process — a move which drew union anger, , as Dattco is mostly non-union compared to First Student.

The ACLU and Rhode Island Center for Justice called on RIDE to immediately fix the problem and develop an alternative plan as a backup should DATTCO fail to provide necessary services again.

“RIDE maintains responsibility for ensuring that students get the transportation required by their IEPs [individualized education programs, which are for students who receive special education] as of Sept. 3, 2024,” the letter stated.

Looking for drivers

Anthony F. Cottone, RIDE’s chief legal counsel, responded to the ACLU letter Tuesday, saying there was “no reason to believe that DATTCO was not capable of performing its contract … at the outset of the 2024-2025 school year,” given that the company had already been providing bus services in parts of Rhode Island since 2020.

DATTCO that there was a licensing issue with its drivers, many of whom are based in Connecticut and lack the proper credentials to drive a school bus in Rhode Island. After news of the bus route issues broke, DATTCO posted to its Facebook page on that it was looking for Rhode Island drivers. A similar notice has been posted on its webpage since at least late August.

“RIDE reached out to other vendors to cover additional routes but there were no more available CDL drivers,” Morente said Tuesday.

Cottone’s letter pointed out that DATTCO’s logistical errors were due in part to sloppy planning: On Sept. 3, the agency received a “transportation plan” from DATTCO which showed over 30 routes would have “double runs,” or one driver serving two routes.

“That would result in children on such routes getting to school an average of 1 hour and 41 minutes late,” Cottone wrote. “It was evident that DATTCO both was short bus drivers and was suffering an internal communications breakdown.”

“RIDE immediately informed DATTCO that it was in breach of its contract…and began brainstorming with the Governor’s Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles about ways to enable licensed Connecticut drivers to operate in Rhode Island,” Cottone’s letter continues. “In fact, DATTCO has since admitted, in writing, that this plan using ‘double runs’ ‘was not suitable.’”

Demands outlined

The ACLU and Rhode Island Center for Justice letter made six demands of RIDE: that the governor issue an emergency executive order, that RIDE’s website post information about affected bus routes the night prior, as well as create an alternate route for each affected route and a dedicated hotline for parents’ phone calls.

The letter urged RIDE to offer compensatory education for any school time missed, as well as travel costs for parents whose kids weren’t able to take the bus. The ACLU specified mileage at the federal rebate rate of 67 cents a mile plus $20 a day for parents who drive, or the cost of any car service used by parents who don’t drive.

Ellen Saideman, cooperating counsel for the ACLU, responded to the RIDE response in an interview Tuesday.

“Basically they said that they’re doing everything that we wanted them to do,” Saideman said. “It does seem like they’ve made some progress. They hired more bus drivers, more routes are covered…I think the point is that there was clearly a problem in this catastrophic start last week.”

Cottone wrote in RIDE’s response Tuesday that eligible parents were notified they could request reimbursements through their resident school district, with the districts later reimbursed by RIDE, although it is unclear if the reimbursements will follow the model the ACLU wanted.

Morente said on Wednesday that all families of affected students had been informed by phone call and email about service delays, as well as information on how to seek reimbursements. Morente also forwarded parents can fill out for reimbursement, and explained the process.

“Districts reimburse parents, Statewide [the RIDE transportation system] credits districts on invoices after collecting the forms, and then payment to the vendor responsible for the interruption for the total month is reduced by the total parent costs,” Morente wrote.

Saideman was still curious why the education department wasn’t more immediately up front about the steps it was taking to correct the problem.

“Why isn’t it posted on their website?” Saideman said about the reimbursements. “I think the point about transparency is… it isn’t that hard to update your website and post information.”

McKee’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on and .

In December, a mom on Long Island, New York, watched her young daughter get onto a school bus, then had to when a car came speeding past on the shoulder. That same month in Minnesota, a child leaving his school bus had to by a pickup truck.

Drivers nationwide continue to barrel illegally past stopped school buses, endangering children and caregivers — and sometimes worse. But some states have found it hard to enforce relatively new laws allowing on-board bus camera systems that record the violations.

Recent deaths during school bus stops include those of a and in separate Texas crashes last year and of a high school student in in 2022. They highlight continued careless driving around school buses despite flashing stop signs and obvious camera lenses. The recklessness may be part of of more aggressive driving noted by authorities that has caused more traffic deaths despite fewer miles driven overall since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A of school bus drivers last year, conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, 242,000 vehicles illegally passed school buses in a single day. That was up from the 232,000 for 2019. That year, passed laws to allow automatic camera surveillance to catch suspected violators.

Almost half of states have such laws now. and considered, but didn’t pass, similar legislation last year. A school bus camera program in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was  last year amid debates in the state legislature over the size of fines and their impact on low-income communities.

But there are several reasons why enforcement might not have been as effective as intended.

Some safety authorities object to new camera laws that reduced fines and excluded license points and other more punitive actions allowed when the same violations are caught in person by law enforcement. Legislatures may have softened school bus penalties to gain consensus among skeptical lawmakers, authorities say.

Some states also are struggling with the limitations of cameras when it comes to enforcing laws requiring evidence police officers can see in person but cameras might not catch. The cameras might not show school bus markings mentioned in the law or whether students are actively getting on or off buses. Another technical issue: School bus cameras have flagged cars on different streets or in lanes separated by medians, where they’re not legally required to stop.

How it works

Typically, the automatic cameras are engaged when a bus driver turns on a flashing stop sign, triggering a computer program that detects violations and sends them to reviewers to check before mailing a violation notice. But the cameras can’t capture everything.

On New York’s Long Island, a state appeals court a $250 ticket in November, saying evidence from bus cameras isn’t enough to prove a violation. Judges on the court said the camera did not establish that the school bus had correct markings or that it was actively picking up or dropping off passengers at the time of the ticket. That decision could endanger $25 million in annual fines from one county alone if other tickets are struck down.

In Pittsburgh, a district court judge told Stateline he dismisses most cases based on school bus cameras for insufficient evidence from the cameras.

Judge James Motznik said he also objects to the way Pennsylvania’s law, like most state laws allowing automatic camera evidence to identify bus-passing violations, undermines a traffic law that’s more punitive. The camera violations are issued as “civil complaints” with a lower fine and no loss of license points as required by the original traffic law against passing a stopped school bus.

“It was sold as a deterrent to enhance public safety,” Motznik said. “But it’s actually less of a deterrent. If a police officer witnessed this, there’d be a $500 fine, a license suspension, points toward losing your license. A camera sees the same thing, it’s $300 and goodbye.”

State legislatures sometimes have used less-punitive fines, without license points or suspensions, as a bargaining chip to reach agreement on camera enforcement such as school bus cameras, said Russ Martin, senior director of policy and government relations for the Governors Highway Safety Association.

“The thought was like, ‘We can make this more accepted by the public.’” Martin said. “But there’s another side to it. In some ways the points are more important than the fines for the worst violators — it means you can’t just pay your way out.”

Pennsylvania’s law on school bus cameras was updated last year partly to allow a lower-cost way for motorists to contest tickets, using a state hearing officer in a free process instead of a court that requires filing fees, said Jennifer Kuntch, a spokesperson for the state transportation department. Pittsburgh schools recorded more than 9,000 violations since the bus camera program began in July, the district  last month.

The appeals court ruling was vexing for local governments, said Paul Sabatino, an attorney and former Suffolk County legislative counsel. Cameras are a necessary part of enforcing the law against passing stopped school buses, he said.

“You can’t allow people to endanger children like that, and you can’t call out the National Guard to watch every school bus at every stop,” Sabatino said.

Many school districts use contractors such as Virginia-based BusPatrol, which claims 90% of the market for school bus cameras, with some competition from others such as RedSpeed USA and American Bus Video. The companies may include school bus stop-arm cameras within a package of other automated traffic enforcement.

Justin Meyers, president of BusPatrol, said the company already has addressed evidence questions in New York state by adding to its “evidence packets” the school bus markings and maps showing the bus is on an established route. Suffolk County is the company’s biggest customer, and BusPatrol has made a $40 million investment in equipping school buses there, Meyers said in an interview. It also operates in Pittsburgh.

The company uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence to detect violations, which are then screened for accuracy by a BusPatrol employee before going to local law enforcement for a final decision on whether to issue a violation notice, Meyers said.

Few statistics available

There are few statistics on the extent of deaths and injuries from passing stopped school buses. Pennsylvania reviewed crash records at Stateline’s request and said 12 such crashes occurred in 2022 and 13 in 2021, with one death in each year — one a student, one a parent — and 23 injuries across both years. Those figures include a that killed a 16-year-old high school student in November 2022 as she was trying to board a school bus in York County.

Across the country, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found 53 fatalities, half of them school-age children, between 2000 and 2021 in accidents involving illegal passing of a school bus, according to an analysis requested by Stateline.

In Minnesota, school districts can apply for state funds to install school bus cameras. The Edina school district sought money last year after an “alarming” increase in bus-passing violations reported by bus drivers, along with two injuries to students, according to a The district won $105,000 for cameras, a cost of about $4,000 per bus, and in January reported drivers had been ticketed for 70% of passing violations noticed by bus drivers, up from 5% without cameras.

In one of the Texas fatalities last year, a woman helping her child onto a bus in Upshur County was killed by a vehicle passing the bus, Sgt. Adam Albritton, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety, told Stateline. The crash was reported, a driver was charged with manslaughter, and police are reviewing footage from a video camera on the bus for evidence, Albritton said.

Texas was an early adopter of video cameras to catch school bus passing violations, commissioning a on such cameras. The state did not include school bus cameras in its in 2019. Not all school districts participate, but Austin, Dallas and San Antonio are among those that do.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on and .

Children who ride school buses without climate control will have to continue to endure Louisiana’s extreme heat and occasional cold snaps. State legislators shelved legislation last week to require buses to have heating and air conditioning throughout the vehicles.

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 56-43 to kill , sponsored by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, that would have mandated climate control measures on all buses serving public schools by 2032.

House Republicans, mostly representing rural areas, said their school districts would not be able to afford such a requirement.

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“This is an unfunded mandate that a lot of school boards just cannot bear,” Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, said.

Louisiana’s school year begins in August, when the heat index can regularly exceed 100 degrees. Many public school systems do not have air conditioning on all of their buses, .

Only two of 44 school buses in Calcasieu Parish have air conditioning, and they are used specifically for special education students. Just a third of the school buses in East Baton Rouge Parish and 79 of 278 school buses in Rapides Parish have air conditioning.

Some jurisdictions – including Baton Rouge, Jefferson Ouachita, Tangipahoa and Morehouse parishes – recently used federal grants to purchase new buses with air conditioning. Ascension, Lafayette and Grant parishes also paid this year to air condition their fleets.

State law already requires school buses to be replaced once they reach 25 years old. Purchasing a new bus costs between $50,000 and $200,000, legislative staff said. Heating and air conditioning on a bus increases its cost by $10,000 to $15,000, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.

“My poor little town is broker than the Ten Commandments,” said Rep. Dewith Carrier, R-Oakdale, who opposed the legislation.

Other legislators said the state needs to be concerned more about the health and welfare of school children.

“Let me ask this question: Who serving in this House doesn’t have air conditioning in their car?” said Rep. Robby Carter, D-Greensburg, during House floor debate on the legislation. “We get it for ourselves. Why not get it for our kids?”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on and .

A bill that resulted from a student coming within seconds of being struck by an aggressive driver is one step closer to becoming law in Oregon.

A high school student, Sean Sype, saw and reported the incident, prompting Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville, to introduce , which would allow school districts to add cameras to school buses to catch and ticket drivers who break state law by blowing past the stop signs and flashing red lights on buses, endangering students’ lives. The measure passed the House on a bipartisan 49-5 vote on Monday and is headed to the Senate.

Sype, a junior at Wilsonville High School, described his experience in submitted to the House Education Committee.

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“I am passionate about this bill passing because on October 15, 2021, I witnessed an aggressive driver speed past the bus stop-arm while one of my peers was exiting the bus,” he said. “If that student had been crossing the road, he would have possibly been killed. It is important that drivers who ignore the law are held accountable.”

At least 24 states, including Idaho and Washington, have laws allowing such cameras, according to the . The National Transportation Safety Board every state allow the cameras after a pickup truck driver struck four children, killing three of them, in Indiana in 2018.

Neron cited a from the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, a school bus driver organization, that surveys drivers throughout the country each year. Oregon bus drivers documented 1,427 incidents of drivers illegally passing them on just one day, and throughout the country bus drivers reported more than 62,000 violations in a single day.

Failing to stop for a stopped bus with flashing red lights is already the highest level of traffic violation, punishable by a fine up to $2,000. The bill would allow districts to partner with local law enforcement to send tickets to drivers caught on camera breaking the law.

The bill doesn’t include funding for school districts to add cameras or for local police to review footage and send tickets. Rep. Boomer Wright, R-Coos Bay, supported the measure but said the lack of funding bothered him.

“When we propose a bill that costs school districts and police departments money, maybe we ought to fund it,” Wright said.

Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, was one of only five lawmakers to vote against the measure, and he said he voted “no” for consistency. He has long opposed photo radar programs because he doesn’t trust that data gathered by the cameras when they’re not actively taking pictures of lawbreakers will remain secure.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on and .

Millions of students ride a yellow school bus every day, and for the majority of them, it works well. However, many districts that rely on school buses are wrestling with a significant shortage of drivers, most of whom work part-time, split shifts for relatively low wages. 

In an August 2023 , 92% of schools surveyed reported that driver shortages constrained their transportation operations, and 40% said they have been forced to reduce bus services. School leaders recognize the impact these transportation challenges are having on attendance and academic performance: Nearly three-quarters of school leaders in the same study say they see a correlation between access to transportation and attendance, especially for students most at risk of being absent in the first place, including those with learning disabilities, from low-income families, experiencing homelessness or in foster care.

According to a report from , a national nonprofit working to overcome homelessness through education, the nationwide shortage of school bus drivers has had an outsized impact on students who lack a permanent place to live. These young people “often experience frequent or unanticipated changes in living situations, including moving across district boundaries,” the group wrote in the report. “As a result of driver shortages, it can be difficult for school … transportation departments to accommodate last-minute changes or route adjustments, often causing students to miss part or all of a school day.”

Local, state and federal policymakers must think carefully and systematically about the challenges inherent in traditional transportation to and from school, and their impact on absenteeism and student learning. They also need to look at how new thinking and innovative approaches can offer solutions to this crisis.

An important first step is clearly and consistently acknowledging that transportation to and from school is integral to education and not an ancillary service. For example, in September 2023, the White House released a about chronic absenteeism and outlined some approaches to address it. While the post highlighted some valuable reforms taken by the Biden administration, there was, unfortunately, no mention of school transportation. In January, the White House held focused on chronic absenteeism. Again, there was no mention that access to school transportation is a part of the problem and can — and should be — part of the solution. That has to change.

The next step is challenging the notion that a yellow school bus should always be the first option. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, of public school students used a yellow bus in 2019. That percentage has been steadily declining since 1980 and is surely even lower today, given pandemic disruptions to education and the driver shortage. 

Instead, policymakers and school administrators need to invest in innovative solutions. For example, cities that have robust public transportation systems have given students fare cards covering the cost of trips to and from school. When focused on older students who live close to transit stops and can walk there safely, this has to be an effective alternative, particularly for students from low-income families. 

All school systems should also consider supplemental transportation options. By more frequently supplementing yellow buses with smaller vehicles — like cars, SUVs and small vans — some districts have made real progress, reducing transit time for students and improving cost and carbon efficiency. Hundreds of districts across the country have partnered with tech platforms that specialize in arranging these supplemental transportation options. Notably, this type of service has been increase attendance, particularly for young people most at risk of missing school.

Finally, school systems and states should invest in emerging technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to make existing routes more efficient and identify the shortage areas where supplemental transportation can help fill gaps. Colorado Springs’ District 11, , used AI to optimize its routing, which essentially solved its bus driver shortages by increasing the number of high-utilization bus routes and cutting the number of total routes nearly in half. The district was also able to increase on-time arrivals and reduce its projected transportation budget by 40% over the next 10 years.

A nation committed to education as a priority must utilize all these tools and more to embrace a new era of multimodal school transportation. Unless and until federal and state policymakers acknowledge the very real ways transportation issues undergird chronic absenteeism and invest in proven solutions, the wheels of some buses will keep going ‘round and ‘round while many students are left behind.

The Alabama State Board of Education may ask the Alabama Legislature for money to add air conditioning to state school buses, most of which lack it.

At the September 14 Board meeting, members of the state Board considered asking for a one-time supplemental bill to add buses to districts most in need.

“One of the things we might encourage on top of the budget is to say, ‘You know what, we’d like to have another one-time flow of money into fleet renewal with a focus on getting rid of buses that don’t have air conditioning,’” said Eric Mackey, state superintendent.

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Only 48% of buses in the state have air conditioning, according to Alabama State Department of Education data. Chad Carpenter, transportation specialist for the ALSDE, said in a phone interview that buses can get 20 degrees hotter than the air outside.

Carpenter compared school buses to passenger cars and said that, when he was a kid, his parents had options between buying cars with or without air conditioning. Many people bought cars without air conditioning because it was cheaper. Then, as technology advanced, air conditioning became cheaper and then standard.

“I wouldn’t be real surprised if air conditioning on school buses doesn’t become pretty standard in the next few years,” he said.

Last summer was the hottest season since 1880, Josh Willis, climate scientist and oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, attributed the heat to long term warming and marine heat waves in combination with the weather pattern known as

Alabama’s hottest summer, until 2023, had been in 1883,

Mackey said at the board meeting that all special education buses in the state are legally required to have air conditioning and that has been the law for some time.

“It’s not a new requirement,” he said. “I won’t say for sure there’s not one somewhere, but I’d be really surprised if there’s a special ed bus in the state that is not air conditioned.”

According to data provided by the Alabama State Department of Education, only a few school districts or charter schools had zero buses on route with air conditioning in the 2022-23 school year.

Daleville City, with 14 routes, has no buses on route with air conditioning. Elba City has four bus routes and no buses with air conditioning. Fairfield City has seven bus routes and no buses with air conditioning. Jacksonville City has 16 bus routes and no buses with air conditioning. Orange Beach City has three bus routes and no air conditioning on buses. Troy City has two bus routes and no buses with air conditioning. Tuscumbia City has zero buses with air conditioning and one bus route. Life Academy has three bus routes and no air conditioning.

city school systems can purchase school buses, but county school systems must provide transportation. City school systems and charter schools are only required to offer transportation for students served by special education,

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education committee, said that he has not heard any talk of supplemental funding for buses yet.

“At the legislative level, because we’re one of the last along the line of the appropriations process, it’s a little early to know whether that’s going to be a high priority request from the education community,” he said.

Mackey told board members they were able to get a one-time supplemental appropriation last year of around $130 million to buy new buses. Two districts, Wilcox County and Shelby County, were given the most funds to buy air conditioned buses, based on need. ALSDE data shows that Shelby has 18.73% of their buses air conditioned currently, or 59 on 319 bus routes. Wilcox has 62.16% of their buses air conditioned, or 23 on 37 bus routes.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on and .