Chalkbeat

Education news. In context.

Chalkbeat

transportation

Optional Schools

Tennessee
August 31, 2018

How one Memphis school is grappling to attract high-achieving students while also educating those left behind

Historic East High School is home to a new academy providing technical education with an emphasis on transportation skills.

Local control

Colorado
June 21, 2018

Change in Colorado law sets up a ‘David and Goliath’ school choice battle no one saw coming

A last-minute provision tacked onto an unrelated bill allows school districts to send buses into neighboring jurisdictions without their consent.

Beep Beep

Colorado
February 2, 2018

Five ideas to help Denver students get to the schools they choose

With school choice underway in Denver, here's how a persistent local critic would improve what he calls the district's “antiquated transportation policies.”

BARRIERS TO ACCESS

Colorado
June 21, 2017

Public transportation won’t solve Denver’s school choice woes, study finds

Only 58 percent of students could get to a top-rated middle or high school in 30 minutes or less by public transit.

Riding the Success Express

Colorado
March 21, 2017

How limited transportation undermines school choice — even in Denver, where an innovative shuttle system has drawn Betsy DeVos’s praise

Six years after Denver Public Schools created an innovative bus shuttle system to help get students to school, the effort has expanded and evolved but…

longer rides

Tennessee
September 30, 2016

School closures and new routes leave Memphis kids with longer routes, worried drivers

The district changed its bus routes this year, cutting roughly 100 routes to save money.
Colorado
August 14, 2015

Call for later high school start times falls flat in Denver Public Schools

A top administrator asked Denver high schools and sixth-12th grade campuses to institute a start time of 8 a.m. or later this year, but most students won't see any changes.
Tennessee
June 30, 2015

SCS approves $27.8 million school bus contract with Durham

The Shelby County Board of Education renews its contract with Durham School Services, the school bus provider that has drawn ire from parents and board members alike.
Indiana
May 4, 2015

3 Marion County districts will ask voters for more tax money Tuesday

Beech Grove schools, Wayne Township and Perry Township will ask voters to approve tax increases so it can improve buildings, fund busing and support staff.
Indiana
March 24, 2015

Indiana Supreme Court says schools can cut busing

The state constitution does not require public schools to provide bus service, the justices ruled.
Indiana
January 9, 2015

Teacher quality changes among low profile education ideas advocates are pushing

A flood of proposals from powerful sources have focused on proposals on issues everyone expects to be the central battleground on education during the legislation session that runs from January to April. But Democrats and lobbying groups of all stripes have their own agendas, some of them offering up what they think are creative solutions to other widely-recognized education problems.

Demerger

Tennessee
March 17, 2014

Shelby County bus drivers warn against outsourcing transportation at first budget hearing

The district plans to fully outsource its busing next year in order to reduce expenses, as part of a 19 percent budget cut that reflects an anticipated drop in enrollment due to the creation of six new school districts in Shelby County suburbs.
New York
December 20, 2013

@NYCSchools: New bus vendors could take over routes Jan. 2

Officials are working "day and night" to avert a looming bus transportation crisis that awaits 40,000 students when they return to school Jan. 2, according to a spate of messages put out by the Department of Education's official Twitter feed this evening.
Colorado
October 2, 2013

District 2 board candidates clash over evaluations, school closures

The third in our series of debates between candidates for Denver Public School board was held Wednesday evening, featuring candidates running for the District 2 board seat, Rosario C de Baca and Rosemary Rodriguez.
New York
February 1, 2013

For one family, bus strike means 8 buses, 4 trains, and few options

Because of the bus strike, 11-year-old Alejandro and his mom, Maria Uruchima, take three buses to get to school. One month into 2013, Maria Uruchima has already used up almost all of her sick and personal days getting her son to school. On the verge of pulling him out of school, she found a partial solution to scheduling nightmare created by the bus strike — but one that still leaves her missing work and commuting almost four hours each day. "I’ve started writing letters to the chancellor and the mayor saying, this is my situation," Uruchima said. "I’m one of those parents that’s really struggling. I can't afford to keep my son home because you guys aren't getting it together. What can I do to help move this process along?"
New York
November 6, 2012

22 schools shut for 7th straight day; no buses for some students

Students in 22 city schools will miss a seventh straight day of class on Wednesday while the Department of Education continues to restore buildings damaged and disrupted by Hurricane Sandy. And thousands of other students will have to make their way to school on their own because the department does not have enough buses to move all of the students who need transportation. After calling local private bus companies and petitioning the state and federal emergency relief organizations, the city has rounded up more than 100 additional buses to join the 7,400 that ran on Monday, officials said this evening. But still, buses will serve students at fewer than half of the 43 schools that are so severely damaged that they must be moved. Those schools, which together enroll about 20,000 students, are opening for the first time on Wednesday. A major problem, Chief Academic Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky said this evening, is that the department's transportation hub, located in Long Island City, still does not have power. The department can only add new routes, not make the ones it already operates more efficient, while the computer system that programs the city's 7,700 school bus routes is down, he said. "We don’t have access to any of that," he said. "Everything we are doing at this point is by hand."
New York
November 18, 2011

Bus union confirms strike threat but says action is not imminent

School buses at Coney Island in 2008. The bus drivers union that Mayor Bloomberg warned earlier today could wage an imminent strike on the school bus system confirmed that a strike was "likely" but disputed that there were "immediate plans to do so." A labor dispute between the city and the union, the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 1181, is over job protections for school bus drivers that would essentially guarantee employment for current employee regardless of which bus contractors win an upcoming contract for busing services. The city says it considers the strike illegal and is asking the National Labor Relations Board, which adjudicates conflict between employers and employees, to seek a court injunction to stop it. A strike would affect 152,000 of the city's 1.1 million students, including more than 50,000 students with special needs, according to the city. At a hastily assembled press conference today, Mayor Bloomberg said the union had not officially informed the city that it would strike but had signaled the intention strongly in conversations beginning Wednesday. The conversations took place because the city said it planned to announce that it would consider hiring new companies to provide pre-kindergarten busing. That announcement happened today. "They were very clear to our people that they would intentionally strike the system," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said about Local 1181 at the press conference. In a statement, Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello confirmed the threats but said it would not happen right away and he criticized Bloomberg for painting a doomsday scenario. 
Colorado
August 19, 2011

This week's safe schools snippets

Sexting, internet safety top parent concerns, study finds - Gay teens sue Minnesota district over bullying policies - Back-to-school safety tips - One student's bullying story - Facebook issues security guide for parents, teachers, students.
Colorado
August 11, 2011

This week's safe schools snippets

Students urged to protect gadgets from theft - Bullying may result in lower test scores - School bus safety tips - Smartphone apps to protect your kids - Curbing teens' risky online behavior.
Colorado
June 3, 2011

Denver's 'Success Express' to roll out of the station

The wheels are in motion for Denver Public Schools' "Success Express," a new bus shuttle system hitting the streets this fall for students enrolled in the district's Far Northeast and Near Northeast school networks.
Colorado
May 24, 2011

Colorado school buses still spewing diesel exhaust fumes

About 2,000 Colorado school buses have been retrofitted to cut down on diesel fumes - but that leaves 3,000 that haven't been.