St. Louis McKinney-Vento Regional Transportation Network

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St. Louis McKinney-Vento Regional Transportation
Network

• Steve Weeks Jim Troxell,
• Ferguson-Florissant School District
• Deidra Thomas-Murray, St. Louis
• Public Schools
• Denitria Neil, Hazelwood School
• District

October 26, 2014
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The St. Louis McKinney Vento Regional
Transportation Network

• This collaboration is a process and systemic
  change from how MV transportation has
  traditionally been done in the St. Louis area.
• The idea is that by building partnerships, we can
  do this much better (and cheaper!) together.

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Transportation is a HUGE piece of the
McKinney-Vento legislation

• Its the law
• Its the right thing to do
• Its expensive!
• For the district of origin
• For the district of temporary residence (50, or
  more, of a districts cost)
• It can be problematic in many ways..

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The Problems Increased Exposure to a Variety of
Dangers

• Accidents
• Incidents with other students
• Driver issues
• Early drop-offs late arrivals
• Tardies causing missed breakfasts
• Lack of supervision after drop-off at school, etc

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The Problem Reliability Issues With Transport
Provider

• Early or late pickups
• Cab no-shows
• Poor service
• Strain on resources/hours/costs of staff staying
  late

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Problems / Issues With Drivers

• Different drivers
• Trust issues of drivers on the part of guardians
  (background checks, other issues)
• Poor judgment or behavior on the part of drivers
  or dispatchers

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The Problem Communication Issues

• Poor (or untrue) communication
• From parents to transportation company or schools
• To parents from transportation company
• From district to parent or transport company
• Students school lacks information
• School or parents do not know how to respond to
  transportation problems

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The Problems Stigmas Perceptions

• Stigmas associated with abnormal school transport
• Public perception, including board members
• Entitlement expectations on the part of the
  parent and/or stakeholders

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The Problems Transportation Challenges

• May require multiple cabs for one family due to
  different grade levels
• Sometimes unavailable/limited
• Transporting younger/smaller students can be
  problematic or even refused
• Charges for student no-shows
• What percentage of your MV transportation costs
  are for no-shows?

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The Problems Complaints!!

• Complaints to from cab company, school staff,
  administrators, homeless liaisons, district
  staff, community stakeholders board members.
  Many of these are complaints are legitimate!

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Question

• On average, how much time per day do you, your
  staff or the district spend on listening to and
  resolving complaints?
• Multiply that number by 180.
• How many hours is that per school year?
• What would you do with this number of hours per
  year if they were given back?

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The Ferguson Florissant School District
Goals..IMPROVE!

• Improve on-time performance / reliability
• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Control over services
• Increase Trust (Parents, Students, Schools)
• Safety
• Improve Attendance, which makes for increased
  learning higher test scores

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The Ferguson Florissant School District
Goals..DECREASE!

• Complaints
• Tardies and Late Pickups
• Costs
• Absences

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The Key Factor in Getting Administrative Support
Was.

• Lowering Costs / Saving

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In the beginning The Baseline

• 2010-11 McKinney-Vento Transportation Costs
• 835,495

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Year One Improvements 2011-12 McKinney-Vento
Transportation Costs

• 530,644! Difference of over 300,000 savings ?
• More students were actually transported than the
  2010-11, all at a MUCH lower cost.
• Providing tuck-ins students displaced within
  the district but not living in the school of
  origin attendance area.
• Every daily cab was on average 47 saved (per
  cab, not child).
• Eliminated all no-show charges, resulting in
  great savings for money that was essentially
  wasted / down the drain.
• Bus mileage is reimbursable by the state,
  resulting in added revenue to the district. This
  began adding money by transporting MV students,
  in addition to saving money. In MO,
  cab mileage is not reimbursable.

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Year Two Improvements 2012-13 McKinney-Vento
Transportation Costs

• 498,397 (approximately 32K savings)
• Again, transported more students than 2011-12,
  at a lower cost ?
• Continued decrease in cab use
• Continued increase utilization of buses
• Increased skill and hard work of
  transportation staff serving HT routes

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A Key Turning Point

• Began transporting our districts displaced
  students from outside FFSD
• Neighboring districts were charged 20 per
  transport cheaper than cabs and other systems
• Saved neighboring districts costs
• Other districts no longer incur a
  charge for no-shows

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Hitting a Savings and Service Plateau

• Savings were excellent but flattening out without
  controlling costs that were incurred from other
  districts. To reach the goal of decreasing costs,
  other districts would need to participate in the
  process.
• Were other school districts interested in
  instituting a similar MV transportation program?

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Inter-District Experiences

• Ms. Deidra Thomas-Murray, Students in Transition
  Foster Care Coordinator, St. Louis Public
  Schools
• Ms. Denitria Neil, Families in Transition and
  Foster Care Programs, Hazelwood School District
• The Rube Goldberg rule.

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Transportation Director Experiences

• Mr. Jim Troxell, Transportation Director,
  Ferguson-Florissant School District

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Requirements

• Communication and relationship building with
  other districts
• Transportation department be supportive and
  involved
• Administrative support (board and district
  administrators)
• Requires a shift in thinking of what MV
  transportation should look like (not as easy as
  youd think!)

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Money Talks

• If you are interested in developing a Regional
  Transportation Network, the calculator is your
  friend! (Money talks, everything else walks, or
  cabs, or)
• Remember, however transportation is provided,
  there will be costs. You just have to be able to
  show that it can be done cheaper. The fact that
  its also better is a great bonus!

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Expenses

• Buses
• Software
• Labor costs
• Before or after school care (occasionally)

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Questions?

• Steven W. Weeks sweeks_at_fergflor.org
• Jim Troxell jtroxell_at_fergflor.org
• Deidra Thomas Deidra.Thomas-Murray_at_slps.org
• Denitria Neil dmitchll_at_hazelwoodschools.org