LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The Lafayette Parish School System seems to be in much better shape this year when it comes to bus transportation.
“We haven’t made a lot of changes to transportation. We haven’t cut routes. We haven’t necessarily added routes but we haven’t cut routes,” said Joe Craig, LPSS Chief Administrative Officer.
That certainly wasn’t the case last year. Angry parents showed up in droves to complain.
Last year the school board cut $1.8 million from the transportation department’s budget. Ultimately, 23 bus routes had to be cut.
This year the transportation department’s budget wasn’t touched so no bus routes were affected.
Last year, bus drivers didn’t get their bus routes until the first week of August. But this year, LPSS Transportation Director Damon Evans said the drivers bid on their routes in late May, giving them the whole summer to prepare.
“Everybody’s done that. Been there. They ran their buses. We had bus turn in and then we had bus inspections and everything’s ready to go,” Evans said.
Another problem last year: the school system did a major rezoning. The school board cut the transportation department’s budget after the rezoning had been completed.
“We were ready to go in May and then we had to redo everything in about ten weeks,” Evans said.
The Versatrans software is now in its second year of being used. Staff members are much more familiar with the software this year.
It can show school system employees every bus route, where the buses have stopped, and where they’re going. They can also follow the bus in real time.
“Before a lot of our routes intermingled, crisscrossed each other as it were,” explained LPSS Transportation Coordinator Joey Simon. “Now they’re fairly tight where they each have their certain areas, so it’s made a big difference.”
This year, all of the school system’s route buses have cameras that record video and audio.
Bus driver James Thomas said they’re a good tool to have.
“We don’t see a lot of stuff because our backs are turned and the mirror can only catch so much at the same time so the cameras have helped in so many situations not just for the students but also the drivers,” Thomas said.
“Discipline on a school bus is a safety issue,” Simon added. “If a driver’s not looking at the road instead of trying to discipline a child or whatnot or breaking up a fight or whatnot, it does interfere with the safety of the bus.”
The school system also hired two more full-time transportation clerks. There are also about a dozen temporary workers fielding calls at the call center.
If you having questions about busing call 521-RIDE.