With an evident need and federal funding available, what transportation options exist?
Improving educational outcomes correlates to removing barriers.
These barriers can take the form of socioeconomic status, inequality, funding shortages, language, emotional pressures, academic gaps, and, at an even more fundamental level, simply having consistent access to the classroom. While the bus system and rides from family and friends cover most students, these are not viable options for others, such as those in transient living situations. This is where the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and alternative school transportation options come in.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that provides funding for a variety of homeless programs. One of its subsections specifically addresses barriers to the classroom, ensuring that children and youth experiencing homelessness have access to education, stating explicitly, “Homelessness is not sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment.” This subsection of the law calls out “transportation” 15 times, allocating grant money to school districts to be used for the purpose of providing “transportation and other necessary services.”
With an evident need and federal funding available, what transportation options exist for school districts and their McKinney-Vento students?
Alternative Transportation Options for McKinney-Vento Students
There are four main options school districts can rely on to comply with the McKinney-Vento Act and ensure each student has consistent access to education.
- School bus service
- Semi-personalized bus service
- Cabs, taxis, and ride-sharing
- Private alternative student transportation companies
Ultimately the decision is up to the district, however, according to the National Center for Homeless Education, the chosen mode “must not create a barrier to the student arriving to school on time or cause an undue burden on the parents or student.”
We’ll explore each of the four options briefly:
Normal School Bus Service
While traditional bus routes are the epitome of safety, they are static. It’s not feasible or cost effective for buses to change directions or schedules to accommodate varying pick-up and drop-off locations like many students eligible for McKinney-Vento support require.
Transportation Directors are tasked with routing sometimes thousands of students a day, demanding efficiency. Anything that doesn’t fit in the box of standard transportation becomes a burden on the district logistically. This can especially manifest in the hundreds of parents calling, asking, “Where’s my kid’s ride?” “What is happening?” “My child didn’t get to school.”
While the traditional school bus can service the majority of students, there are better solutions that effectively meet the needs of McKinney-Vento students.
Semi-Personalized Bus Service
Within the existing school district transportation network is another option — utilizing bus resources at a semi-personalized level. This can include the use of special education buses, maximizing the return routes of buses already out on assignment, or even partnering with local shelters or other community vans.
While this transportation mode is feasible, it requires extensive collaboration from all parties involved: the district, transportation department, local school officials, interdistrict transportation agreements, community partners, and parents and families.
Semi-personalized service can also put a burden on transportation budgets and driver availability.
Cabs, Taxis, and Ride Sharing
Expanding beyond current resources can lead some school districts to explore on-demand cab, taxi, and ride sharing services. Some schools have secured on-demand partnerships with local taxi companies. However, “These on-demand taxis cost more than the regular cab routes the district has established for McKinney-Vento students, which typically take several days to reroute.”
On-Demand taxis can provide flexibility beyond that of the traditional school bus, but they often come with higher costs. Cabs and ride sharing also present certain legal considerations around unaccompanied minors, the potential lack of specialized education for drivers, and the inability to centralize the coordination of the rides themselves — keeping both family and district informed of the ride statuses at all times.
Private Alternative Student Transportation Companies
Alternative transportation companies bring the main benefit of cabs and ride sharing, their flexibility, and then supplement that with services customized to the needs of students and districts. This includes specializations such as:
- Driver vetting and education
- Centralized coordination
- Safety technology and real-time monitoring
- Full-time on-the-ground operations staff
- Federal grant prepayment
- Split billing across districts
Whereas the cab option can feel ad-hoc, with students never sure who to expect as their driver, student transportation companies can provide a more reliable and consistent experience. For example, with EverDriven, 80% of students take their daily ride with the same driver.
When it comes to safety, companies like EverDriven strive to match the rigorous standards of traditional school buses. Services such as driver background checks, specialized education, and real-time ride tracking via the EverDriven VIP app, deliver school bus peace of mind within an adaptable and on-demand transportation solution.
Student transportation companies can also help transportation departments handle some of the logistical load, reducing parent phone calls, and cutting down on complex route deviations.
EverDriven — Reliable Transportation for McKinney-Vento Students
We’ve been pioneering student transportation for the past 20 years. Districts and families have come to trust us with some of their most vulnerable students because of our reliability, visibility, and scale.
Consistency: 80% of students take their daily ride with the same driver.
Visibility: See real-time updates on ride status with our EverDriven VIP app for families and school employees. School districts can view trip recordings with our on-board Camera Solution.
Scale: Largest operational capacity in the nation, currently serving 700 districts across 33 states with 9,000 drivers ready to meet your district’s evolving demand.
“EverDriven has expanded our school district’s capacity to assist children struggling with homelessness and their ability to get to and from school consistently. EverDriven has made it possible to simply and easily schedule large numbers of students to be picked up and dropped off. All while accounting for the day-to-day nuance of school scheduling, constantly changing addresses, and working with other school districts. 10/10 to all EverDriven departments.”
-Jake Winkel, Plano Independent School District
About EverDriven
When it comes to student transportation, every detail matters. That’s why, even as the nation’s largest alternative student transportation company, we continue to invest in both our technology and our local, on-the-ground operational teams. It’s this blend of innovation and attention that makes us the most reliable way to get students to and from school.
Let us help you ease the transportation load. We’re here to help.
