What does Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado look for in a strategic transportation partner? According to Nathan Reimer, Executive Director of Transportation and Fleet Services for the district, they must provide an essential service that improves overall efficiency, and being trustworthy is “non-negotiable.” Jeffco has partnered with EverDriven as a reliable, cost-efficient solution for alternative student transportation, serving thousands of students that need access to education but aren’t a great fit for the school bus.
The Challenge: Serving More Students with Specialized Needs on Less Budget
Jeffco Public Schools is Colorado’s second-largest school district, educating roughly 75,000 students across 160 schools in Jefferson County and a section of Broomfield.
Within those populations are students whose transportation needs are not always best served by the traditional yellow-bus model.
- More than 1,465 students qualify for McKinney-Vento support
- Nearly 10,000 receive special education services
“Third-party transportation gives us additional flexibility and specialized capacity to serve those students appropriately,” said Reimer.
At the same time, Jeffco is working through tightening budgets. Enrollment has declined as rising housing costs push young families out of the county, and the district has cut tens of millions of dollars from its budget over the past two years.
Reimer’s transportation department, like many others across the country, follows a clear directive to meet these budget constraints:
Use district-operated buses whenever they can safely and appropriately meet a student’s needs, and reserve individualized transportation for students who require it.
The individualized transportation component of that strategy is intensely scrutinized to make sure Jeffco selects the right providers who will bring safety, reliability, and trust while improving efficiencies across the transportation department.
Setting the Standard: What “Partner” Actually Means
EverDriven measures its work with districts against four commitments:
- Be essential
- Be trusted partner
- Deliver an effortless and modern experience
- Deliver service excellence
Asked which of those matters most to Jeffco’s working relationship with EverDriven today, Reimer didn’t hesitate.
“Our transportation partner must provide an essential service, and being trustworthy is non-negotiable,” Reimer said. Effortless, modern service and service excellence matter too, he added, but they’re what make a good partnership better, not what makes a partnership possible in the first place.
When Jeffco has to make hard calls about where transportation dollars go, the vendors that stay in the conversation are the ones that are integral to their ability to meet student needs.
Earning Trust, One Trip at a Time
EverDriven earned Jeffco’s trust through patterns that emerged over the multi-year partnership. “It hasn’t been just one instance where EverDriven earned our trust,” said Reimer. “It’s the ongoing pattern of communication, availability, and proactivity, and a willingness to own mistakes when they happen.”
Jeffo relies on EverDriven to transport students with disabilities and those experiencing housing instability. These students can’t absorb a missed or late ride without real consequences, which is why the element of trust is so important. Accountability has helped EverDriven build trust with the district over time; when issues emerge, EverDriven surfaces the problem and fixes it, rather than letting Reimer’s team find out on their own.
Reporting That Keeps Pace
Providing added accountability and visibility through technology helps, too. Reimer particularly appreciates the ability to easily and quickly pull reports through EverDriven’s TripCentral app.
For a transportation and fleet office facing budget scrutiny, board questions, and daily service decisions all at once, fast access to trip and performance data helps Jeffco monitor service, manage costs, answer questions, and explain how transportation dollars are being used.
Looking Ahead
Jeffco is continuing to think differently about innovative ways to get every kid to school, considering additional investments in vehicles in addition to their strategic partnership with EverDriven to complement the yellow school bus. Above all else, Reimer and his team think holistically about how they can best serve a student population whose needs keep evolving, with a steadfast focus on reliability, safety, and overall efficiency.
“Jeffco currently relies on third-party transportation to meet the full range of our students’ needs, and that capacity has become an essential part of our transportation system,” Reimer summarized. “EverDriven has become an important and trusted part of that work through its performance, communication, transparency, and willingness to identify and correct problems.”
