Transportation
We transport more than 22,000 students on 220 district-owned buses. Our mission is to support education by safely, reliably, and efficiently transporting students to and from school and school events.
Addressing Our Driver Shortage
What is happening?
Across the country, there is a national school bus driver shortage, compounded by an aging workforce, illnesses, and challenging winter weather.
In District 196, we do not have enough drivers to cover all scheduled routes.
- We have been canceling or delaying approximately 5 percent of bus routes daily since early December.
- We use every bus-licensed staff member we have (substitutes, bus mechanics, supervisors, and transportation office staff) to cover routes before canceling.
- We recognize how disruptive cancellations are for families and students.
District 196 provides more personalized transportation services than the law requires, which makes the system harder to staff during shortages. While this reflects our longstanding commitment to supporting families, it also places significant strain on the system. The size of our district, the variety of road conditions, and the length of some routes further complicate the challenge, particularly when staffing levels are insufficient to reliably cover all routes.
Changes Are Needed
- Improving transportation services is a top priority for district leaders.
- With current staffing levels, we must reduce services in a careful, legal way.
- Our goal is a system that is fair, sustainable, and reliable for the future.
Immediate Actions We Are Taking
- Release Your Seat: An offer for families to voluntarily waive their transportation rights.
- Contracted Services: Beginning Feb. 2, TCT will transport some special education routes with fewer students.
- Recruit and Train Drivers: Driver recruitment and agreed to compensation increases; benefits include paid training, access to full family health insurance for part-time and full-time employees, and the state pension system (PERA).
- Streamline Training: Updating training processes; hiring an additional trainer to decrease days from hire to road-ready and licensed.
Long-term Considerations
- Transportation eligibility and exemptions from past boundary changes
- Increased walking distances (e.g., the state’s 2-mile standard)
- Reduce or eliminate transportation for specialized programs
- Review intradistrict transfers, magnet schools, and other programs
- Restrict alternate variable schedules (e.g., alternate address or daycare services)
- Reduce route length for overall efficiency
- Review fee-for-service options
This is a complex system with few immediate solutions. We are committed to addressing transportation challenges in a responsible, lawful, and student- and family-centered way, prioritizing safety for our students and drivers.
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Transportation Eligibility
Service distances for transportation are one mile and farther from school for elementary students and 1.5 miles and farther for middle and high school students, as defined in section 1 of Policy 707, Student Transportation. These service distance criteria also apply to students attending the district’s magnet schools and all non-public school students. Minnesota law requires school districts to provide transportation to any student who lives 2 miles and farther from their assigned school.
A student’s distance from school, as referred to in Policy 707, section 1.4, is defined as the shortest distance from the student’s residence (where the front of the property meets the street), by reasonably safe walkway, street or highway that is accessible to the public, to the curb-step or walkway at the assigned entrance of the school the student attends. If any portion of where the front of the residential property meets the street is outside the walking distance, the student will be provided busing to and from school.
Contact
Transportation
651-423-7685
Location
Transportation Department
15180 Canada Avenue
Rosemount, MN 55068
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday
5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Did you know?
- District 196 maintains approximately 220 vehicles, which is the largest district-owned bus fleet in the state.
- We employ more than 280 drivers, chaperones, vehicle technicians and transportation office staff.
- District 196 transports more than 22,000 students to and from school each day.
- District buses travel more than 2.5 million miles each year.
- All buses must pass rigorous state inspections each year.
- All buses have two-way radios for constant contact with the Transportation Department.
- Bus evacuation drills are held twice a year at all grade levels.