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This chapter reviews the Transportation Services Department of the Killeen Independent School District (KISD) in five sections:

A. Privatization
B. Organization and Staffing
C. Safety
D. Routing and Scheduling
E. Fleet Maintenance

SAFETY

FINDING

The position of training foreman has been vacant since August 1998. The position has not been filled due to the Transportation Services' hiring freeze, which will continue pending a decision on privatizing transportation. Although an official calendar for the decision on privatization of student transportation has not been adopted by KISD, the administrative assistant for Business Services, who is coordinating release of a request for proposals, said a decision on privatization may not be made until the 2000-01 school year.

With a high turnover rate of 31 percent, the Transportation Services Department must train 61 new drivers each school year. Driver training is now the part-time responsibility of the operations foreman. The operations foreman's primary responsibilities are safety and field supervision of drivers. However, since the operations foreman drives a school bus route each day and also trains new driver candidates, he does not have time to focus on safety issues.

Recommendation 93:

Recruit and hire a training specialist for Transportation Services.

Safety is the most important aspect of student transportation. The position of training foreman should be reclassified as the training specialist, responsible for new driver training and retraining for current employees. The operations foreman currently is serving part-time as the trainer. He also is responsible for supervising drivers and field observations. Until the operations foreman can delegate training to a new training specialist, he does not have time to focus on safety issues in the department. For example, during community meetings held by TSPR for this review, several participants commented on observations of school bus drivers who drive too fast and do not observe traffic signals. The operations foreman should be in the field to observe and address these incidents

The importance of safety and training cannot be delayed until 2000-01. The freeze on hiring a training specialist should be lifted and recruitment to fill the position should begin as soon as possible.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1.The director for Transportation Services recommends hiring a training specialist to the assistant superintendent for Business Services. October 1999
2.The assistant superintendent for Business Services recommends filling the training specialist position to the superintendent and school board. November 1999
3.The superintendent authorizes the director for Human Resources to recruit a qualified training specialist. November 1999
4.The director for Human Resources provides the director for Transportation Services a list of qualified candidates for the training specialist position. December 1999
5.The new training specialist is hired. March 2000

FISCAL IMPACT

The position of training specialist is part of the budget for Transportation Services. This recommendation could be implemented with existing resources.

FINDING

Driver training is inadequate. During community meetings held by TSPR for this review, participants said bus drivers are not properly trained to handle the needs of special education students. An operations foreman is serving as the trainer on a part-time basis. The training curriculum concentrates on qualifying new driver candidates to obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL). The operations foreman spends six to 12 hours total with each new driver candidate covering department procedures and the requirements for the CDL test. In addition, driver candidates ride along with an experienced driver to get acquainted with the route, stops, and students. Eventually, a driver is required to attend 20 hours of driver training offered periodically by the Region 12 Education Services Center (ESC). However, a driver can drive a school bus route once he or she has completed KISD training, earned a CDL, and has enrolled in the Region 12 ESC class. Training to qualify as a driver does not include preparation to manage student discipline. Without adequate training, a driver may pose a serious safety risk to the transportation of students.

KISD offers seven in-service training days for staff development during each school year. Usually two of the seven days are devoted to some form of skills training for transportation employees. The remaining in-service days typically are devoted to team building. Student discipline improvement and conflict resolution training is provided annually. The district offers classes in conflict resolution each summer, and employees who are interested may attend. All school bus drivers who have been employed for at least three years must attend an eight-hour school bus refresher course as required by TEA. The refresher course is required for drivers every three years and is coordinated with Region 12 ESC.

Each driver with the Round Rock ISD spends 62 hours in training, 20 of which are spent on the road one-on-one with a trainer. Classroom training includes defensive driving, crisis prevention, and 20 hours of Region 12 ESC training. In addition, drivers watch safety videos each month. The safety videos are not required, but drivers are paid for the time spent watching the videos. This incentive ensures a high rate of participation in this additional training. Temple ISD provides its drivers two weeks, or about 80 hours, of training.

Recommendation 94:

Develop a comprehensive training curriculum for drivers to include behind-the-wheel training, student discipline management, and safety.

An expanded driver training program will provide many advantages. First, training ultimately improves departmental performance due to improvements in driver performance and service effectiveness, and it improves quality control. Also, training drivers initially will reduce the need to spend time and money on retraining later.

Second, training helps policy enforcement. When policies have been communicated, management can expect a high standard of performance. When management takes the time to train employees properly and effectively, more employees understand what is expected of them and how their duties are to be carried out.

Third, increased training will result in improved safety. An inadequately trained driver is a hazard, while a well trained driver is an asset. Implementing a driver training program that emphasizes safety will create a secure environment in which to transport students.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1.The training specialist develops a training curriculum with sufficient time for skills training including driving, managing student discipline, and safety. May 2000
2.The director for Transportation Services recommends expanding driver training curriculum to the assistant superintendent for Business Services. June 2000
3.The director for Transportation Services authorizes the training specialist to expand the training program. July 2000

FISCAL IMPACT

The fiscal impact is the cost of paying for each driver's time to receive training. The first 12 hours of training and ESC already are available. The fiscal impact includes 30 additional hours of training for each new driver. Assuming a wage rate of $7.26 per hour for a driver, the cost of the expanded training program for each new driver is approximately $220 per driver. The approximate number of new drivers each school year is 61, for a total cost of $13,420 a year.

Recommendation 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004
Develop a training curriculum for drivers to include behind-the-wheel training, managing student discipline, and safety. $0 ($13,420) ($13,420) ($13,420) ($13,420)

FINDING

Monitors are assigned to ride with drivers on special education and alternative program routes. Monitors do not receive adequate training for their duties. Monitors receive two hours of training before being assigned to a route. The training content includes department procedures and how to secure wheelchairs. No formal training is provided on how to assist children with special needs.

Monitors are expected to learn how to take care of special needs children while they are on the route. Administrative staff members who do not have a CDL also may be called upon to substitute as monitors without specific training. Special needs students require very specific personal assistance. Monitors and administrative staff cannot provide the appropriate support for special needs students without adequate training. Corpus Christi ISD has a training program for special needs bus drivers and monitors that covers preboarding and boarding practices, how to secure wheelchairs and occupants, how to evacuate the bus, and student management for special needs students. Before Round Rock ISD monitors ride on a bus with a student with special needs, such as medical equipment, they participate in one-on-one training with a school nurse to learn how to handle that particular student's needs. Temple ISD provides approximately 20 hours of training for monitors.

During a TSPR driver focus group, drivers and monitors said they had been trained only to secure a wheelchair once, when they were first hired. The drivers and monitors felt they needed retraining. One administrative staff member who sometimes rides as a monitor said he did not know how to secure a wheelchair at all. During community meetings held by TSPR for this review, participants said monitors do not always know how to handle the special needs of children with disabilities.

Recommendation 95:

Develop a comprehensive training program for school bus monitors.

A training curriculum of approximately 16 hours for monitors is appropriate. The curriculum should include classroom training for department procedures (two hours), first aid and CPR (two hours), passenger assistance for wheelchairs (two hours), managing special needs students (two hours), and the care of special needs students (four hours). The 16-hour curriculum also should include a supervised ride-along on the monitor's new route after the classroom training is complete so the monitors can become familiar with the individual needs of students on the route (four hours).

In addition, a passenger assistance training class should be offered as staff development for all transportation employees during a regularly scheduled in-service day.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1.The training specialist develops a training curriculum for monitors with sufficient time for specific training in passenger assistance, helping special needs students, and managing student discipline. May 2000
2.The director for Transportation Services recommends the expanded training curriculum for monitors to the assistant superintendent for Business Services. June 2000
3.The director for Transportation Services authorizes the training specialist to expand the training program for new monitors. July 2000
4.The director for Transportation Services incorporates the training module for passenger assistance in the agenda for staff development for the current Transportation Services staff. August 2000

FISCAL IMPACT

The fiscal impact is the cost of paying for each new monitor's time to receive training. The approximate number of new monitors each school year is 20. Assuming a wage rate of $6.50 per hour for a monitor, the cost of the expanding the training program for each new monitor from two hours to 16 hours is approximately $100 ($6.50/hr x 14 hrs x 20 new monitors).

Passenger assistance training for current employees can be offered during a scheduled in-service day and does not require additional expense.

Recommendation 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004
Develop a comprehensive training program for monitors ($2,000) ($2,000) ($2,000) ($2,000) ($2,000)

FINDING

A school bus driver may not discipline a student other than reassigning a seat or reasonable verbal reprimand. If a problem occurs with a particular student on a school bus, the driver must write a report on the incident. The driver submits the report to the operations specialist in the Transportation Services Department, who prepares a multi-part form for each report and forwards the forms each morning at 9:00 a.m. to the appropriate school administrators. Each school is responsible for investigating incidents and determining disciplinary action, if any. The school administrator returns the student referral forms to the Transportation Services Department.

This procedure is timely and appears well thought out. The Transportation Services Department, however, has not taken advantage of database software to track and analyze trends in student referrals. Tracking trends would help Transportation Services identify and appropriately address a recurring problem with a specific student, route, or driver.

During the focus group discussion, some drivers said they were not always informed of how referrals were handled or were not informed of disciplinary in a timely manner. For example, if a student was suspended from riding the bus, a driver may not know of the decision for several days, although the student continued to ride the bus despite the suspension. The drivers said when they are not informed of disciplinary actions in a timely manner, driver authority with students is not reinforced, leading to further discipline problems. The director for Transportation Services said the administrators at some schools do not investigate incidents or may not report findings and actions by completing the student referral form.

During community meetings held by TSPR for this review, participants complained about the process for resolving problems on the school bus. Some people said students and their parents were always favored. Other people said the students do not always know what is expected of them. One member of the community recommended schools explain the expectations for student conduct on the school bus at the beginning of each year.

Recommendation 96:

Work with school administrators to emphasize the importance of responding to student referrals and use a database to document incidents on school buses and analyze trends to identify recurring problems and develop appropriate action plans.

The training specialist, who is responsible for training and student referrals, should use a database to enter and track discipline referrals by student, school, and driver. Periodic analysis of the data should reveal trends in referrals that then can be addressed appropriately. For example:

  • A student who consistently causes problems could warrant a parent conference;
  • A general problem in discipline from a particular school might be resolved through a meeting with school administrators;
  • Drivers who have difficulty maintaining discipline may need student management training; and
  • Many drivers who cannot maintain discipline may mean there is a need for a training program for all drivers that teaches student management skills.

Entering referrals into a database can be integrated into the existing process. Each morning before the referrals are sent to school administrators, the training assistant can enter the pertinent information in the database, such as the date and time, the route, trip and bus number, the student and driver involved, the incident that occurred, and the school the student attends. As school administrators return discipline referrals to Transportation Services, the database should be updated on the action taken, the school administrator's response and the date of action. The driver should be informed of the resolution of the incident.

The database can be designed to print a number of different reports, including reports by individual driver and student, route, trip, or school. Reports could also be designed to analyze discipline referrals by route type (regular, special needs, or field trip), age group, time of day, or any number of other factors that could help identify discipline trends and develop solutions.

The database also can provide a mechanism for ensuring timely responses by school administrators. Each day, the database can be queried to identify referrals that are pending. Pending items can be referred to the operations foreman. The operations foreman then can follow up with the appropriate school administrator to emphasize the importance of prompt action and communication with the student and the driver.

Trends in driver performance can be monitored by the training specialist. If disciplinary action is required, the analysis should be referred to the operations specialist. If training or a change in departmental procedure is appropriate, the training specialist can initiate new training programs or encourage discussion of procedures during team meetings.

The Transportation Services Department should refer violent incidents and student referrals that suggest a serious discipline problem for a specific student to the KISD School Safety Department.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1.The director for Transportation Services requests the assistance of the Technology Department to set up a database to record and print reports on student referrals. June 2000
2.The director for Transportation Services assigns the training assistant to enter student referrals into the new database as a part of the current daily procedures. August 2000
3.The director for Transportation Services assigns the training specialist to analyze student referrals to identify management trends. Weekly
4.The training specialist reports findings to the director for Transportation Services, the operations specialist, and the operations foreman to develop appropriate action plans. Weekly
5.The director for Transportation Services or the operations specialist refers violent incidents or serious student discipline problems to the attention of the director for School Safety. Upon occurrence

FISCAL IMPACT

This recommendation could be implemented with existing resources.