Lewiston Public Schools is one of Maine’s most diverse and dynamic districts. Home to the largest high school in the state, the district faces a growing population and supports roughly 600 annual McKinney-Vento students. With size and diversity come challenges surrounding language barriers, high mobility, complex needs, and limited transportation resources.
When Kayla Denaco joined the district as Assistant Director of Transportation in 2022, she stepped into a department that was running entirely on Google Sheets. Routes were built manually, data lived in silos, and operational inefficiencies posed safety risks, organizational strain, and daily uncertainty for families.
Denaco brought two decades of logistics expertise and a vision for a different kind of transportation program. Her work optimized the routes, reduced deadhead miles, improved visibility of students, and improved the reliability of their transportation system. But the biggest benefit? Getting more students in Lewiston to school safely and on time.
Transforming Routing with Visibility, Reliability, and Safety
Upon joining the district in 2022, Denaco partnered with Director of Nutrition and Transportation Alisa Roman to lead a modernization of the district’s transportation system.
A primary objective was to deliver real-time visibility to both schools and parents. They wanted these core stakeholders to be able to see routes, understand when and why changes happened, and trust that the system was working for them.
“We rebuilt every route from the ground up. No more endless circles, no more inefficiency,” Denaco said.
Key components of the modernization effort included:
- Converting workflows from paper- and Google Sheets-based systems to a modern routing platform
- A complete rebuild of all bus routes, eliminating redundancies and unnecessary mileage
- Building and deploying a centralized database of 6,000+ students
But the initiative didn’t end there.
Meeting the Needs of Lewiston’s Most Vulnerable Students
Despite major routing improvements, one challenge remained unsolved: transportation for the district’s highly mobile Special Education and McKinney-Vento populations.
Lewiston regularly welcomes new students fleeing hardship, from homelessness to refugee displacement. Many arrive with unpredictable schedules, unstable housing, or limited English proficiency.
At the time, the district didn’t have the vehicles or systems to meet every need.
“I refused to accept ‘we have nothing for you’ as an answer,” Denaco said.
After researching alternative student transportation solutions, she brought EverDriven to the Maine district. This opened doors for hundreds of students who would otherwise have been left without a safe, reliable way to get to school.
EverDriven has since become a trusted extension of the district’s transportation team, supporting:
- High-volume, rapid MKV onboarding
- Out-of-district SpEd routes
- Quality checks and driver verification during morning startup
- Early release coordination
- Calendar management
- Frequent schedule changes
Last year alone, Lewiston served 600+ MKV students, and EverDriven handled transportation for many of them.
Benefits of the Partnership Between EverDriven and Lewiston
Together, Lewiston Public Schools and EverDriven are providing reliable transportation for high-mobility students, along with tools to reinforce the district’s objectives around visibility and safety. With new MKV and refugee students arriving weekly, or in some cases daily, EverDriven’s ability to scale quickly, adjust routes, and update calendars has been crucial.
District leaders describe the partnership with EverDriven as one grounded in “honesty, respect, and shared purpose.”
There are a few stand-out benefits of the partnership that Denaco and Roman particularly appreciate:
- Exceptional support during school startup
- Having a dedicated Maine resource to streamline communications
- Strong driver screening protocols
- Quality and vehicle checks at school sites
- Billing by ride, not by student, which reduces costs
EverDriven’s technology suite has been another big win, underscoring visibility and reliability through communication and reinforced safety measures. For instance, the EverDriven app makes it easy to verify driver location and route status. Parents also have a secure communication channel, with visibility into pickup and drop-off timing, and confidence in their drivers’ credentials.
Making an Impact
“Transportation isn’t just logistics, it’s a promise,” Denaco said. “A promise that every student will have a safe way to get where they need to be.”
Lewiston sees EverDriven not as a vendor, but as a partner helping solve some of the state’s toughest transportation challenges.
As Lewiston continues to grow and evolve, the district plans to deepen its partnership with EverDriven; expanding technology use, improving communication workflows, and exploring new features that offer greater transparency to parents, students, and staff.
The vision is clear: a more connected, more equitable, more reliably supported student transportation ecosystem. The partnership between Lewiston and EverDriven is making this vision reality.
