School superintendent vows no repeat of busing nightmares next year

School Superintendent Carol Johnson has released details of plans to ensure more students get to school on time in the coming school year.

For starters, BPS has already started mapping out bus routes for the fall, rather than waiting until later in the summer. BPS blamed new routing software for a busing crisis that saw hundreds of students getting to school seriously late, if their buses showed up at all.

Part of the planning process will involve making sure drivers actually have enough time to get from one stop to the next.

Also, transportation staff underwent customer-service training, more operators will be brought on in peak hours to actually talk to parents wondering where their kids are and the whole system has been tied into the Mayor's Hotline call-tracking system.

Also, BPS has declared June as BPS Bus Driver Appreciation Month. Parents and students will be asked to write letters of appreciation to their bus drivers, who work for a contractor named First Student. BPS will soon ask for bids to run its buses when First Student's contract expires next year.