Bus To School No Longer Automatic For AACPS, Families Must Now Opt Into Transportation

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — School bus transportation used to be automatic for eligible students in Anne Arundel County. That will change next school year, adding another layer to the county's ongoing bus issues.

Families must now register for their students to ride the bus. Students who don't sign up will not be allowed on the bus all school year, even if they live on its route.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools announced the news Friday on Facebook. Registration opens Wednesday. It will only be available to families who live far enough from their schools to qualify for bus transportation.

Families will get a separate encrypted email for each of their eligible students. They should click the secure link and fill out the form for each student as soon as possible, regardless of whether their children will take the bus. The forms are student-specific and cannot be forwarded to others.

The school system did not mention when the forms are due.

Ongoing Bus Issues

AACPS has struggled with bus transportation all school year. This stems from a nationwide shortage of commercial drivers. That labor deficit stung even more when drivers from one contractor went on strike last October.

These factors have made buses unreliable. Routes are canceled or delayed each day, leaving families in limbo. AACPS posts a daily list of all the affected routes at aacps.org/buses.

"Every day it is like going to the casino on whether your child will have a school bus picking them up," AACPS parent Barbara Helliwell told Patch in an email last fall.

County officials eventually announced signing and retention bonuses for bus drivers and attendants last November. School officials hoped this would bolster recruiting, but the troubles have continued all year. AACPS is still hiring drivers and looking for other ideas.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman included bus driver pay raises in his budget proposal, which he released last week. This suggestion still needs to pass the County Council, however.

Leaders are now turning to mandatory bus registration as a potential solution. The Board of Education unanimously passed a motion last August asking Superintendent George Arlotto to evaluate the sign-up system. The school board wondered if this would increase bus efficiency.

Families worry about the equity of requiring bus registration. They also wonder how AACPS will enforce this policy, and they question whether drivers would really deny a child a ride to school.

"This is one of the most ridiculous things I have seen," community member Wendi Sonnenberg commented on AACPS's announcement on Facebook. "There has to be a better way to determine where we need buses."

Sonnenberg has dealt with bus challenges for 11 years, so she's not convinced this will fix the problem.

"The bus situation gets worse every year," Sonnenberg said. "I see a lot of finger pointing, but never any accountability. So now they are putting more on to the shoulders of the parents and families."

Exceptions To Bus Form

Some students will still automatically get transportation. This list includes:

• Pre-K and kindergarten students
• Students who have Individualized Education Programs that contain transportation accommodations
• Students designated as homeless

Students who take shuttles from their schools or homes to the Centers of Applied Technology do not have to fill out the form for this specific transit. They still need to fill out the form to opt into transportation from their home to their main school, however.

Families with students at the county's four charter or contract schools will get transportation information later this year. Those details will come from their students' schools.

RELATED:

• More Teachers, New 911 Facility Included In Pittman's Budget Proposal For Anne Arundel
• Signing, Retention Bonuses Announced For Anne Arundel Bus Drivers
• Bus Drivers Go On Strike, Slow School Transportation: Reports

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