In a recent BusPlanner-hosted webinar, student transportation experts Binford Sloan and Scott Denton offered a wealth of knowledge to help districts achieve a smooth, successful start to the upcoming school year.
Drawing on their extensive experience, they walked attendees through a range of practical strategies for student transportation teams.
Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways from the session.
- Requirements for Special Needs Students: Verifying whether Special Needs students will attend the same programs or use the same facilities.
- Introduction of New Schools: Identifying any new schools or program locations being introduced.
- Effective Communication System: Ensuring every change — from program location shifts to updated bell times — is communicated to routing teams, drivers, and operations staff.
Face-to-Face Meetings
While digital communication plays a key role in today’s workflows, Binford and Scott strongly advocated for in-person outreach. Building relationships beyond the Transportation Department fosters better alignment and reduces surprises down the road.
These meetings are the best place to surface concerns, clarify logistics, and build mutual understanding.
Tips for Planning Summer Programs
Summer transportation has unique demands — fewer days, unique locations, and specialized student populations. According to the presenters, planning should start as early as Spring to get ahead of these complexities.
Their step-by-step guidance included:
- Decide the Transportation Model: Determine if the transportation model would be Standard, Pre-planned, or Express routing.
- Finalize Locations: Confirm program locations, bell schedules, and non-operating days.
- Set a Realistic Timeline: Establish deadlines and share a timeline so stakeholders understand when they’ll receive routing information.
- Involve the Stakeholders: Schedule staff meetings for updates, route distribution, and dry runs.
Starting early helps eliminate surprises and ensures your team is well-prepared when programs begin.
Preparing for the Regular School Year Start-Up
Planning for Fall is a massive undertaking, and the more things change, the earlier that preparation should begin.
Both speakers urged transportation teams to look into the following:
- What changes are happening this year?
- Which schools had issues last year, and what proactive steps are being taken to address those issues?
- Were on-time arrivals or departures problematic?
- What’s being done to improve discipline procedures and stakeholder communication?
Other key tasks include:
- Engaging With Important Stakeholders: Ensuring alignment with with School Resource Officers, Data Managers, and Special Programs Staff.
- Leveraging Last Year’s Data to Improve: Updating processes and forms based on lessons learned from last year.
- Defining a Timeline: Creating a written schedule outlining deadlines (e.g., student promotion dates, route release dates).
- Addressing Driver Shortage: Planning for driver shortages and determining how to address gaps.
- Training the Drivers: Organizing driver training and dry runs to ensure familiarity with new or revised routes.
How BusPlanner Can Help
Throughout the webinar, both presenters emphasized how tools like student transportation platforms like BusPlanner can streamline operations and centralize communication. From managing route changes to importing student data and coordinating dry runs, BusPlanner offers robust features to support everything from day-to-day operations to long-term planning.
Key Takeaways
Whether you’re prepping for a short-term summer session or launching into a brand-new school year, success starts with strategic planning and clear communication. Sloan and Denton’s advice? Start early, stay organized, and never underestimate the power of in-person conversations.
For districts looking to strengthen their transportation readiness, BusPlanner continues to be a trusted partner in the process. Contact us to learn more!
Watch the complete webinar for more details on how you can enhance your student transportation operations.
