CINCINNATI — As the 2023-24 school year approaches for Cincinnati Public Schools, district administrators are working to ensure busing runs smoother than it did last year.
CPS parent Derek Drifmeyer described busing last year as "totally unreliable."
He said multiple times one of his daughters was dropped off on the wrong side of a busy road, but that wasn't the only issue.
"My youngest, she gets off school at about 3:15 p.m. and there were times where she was sitting at school until 6 p.m. before they would even tell us that the buses didn’t come to get them," Drifmeyer said.
CPS Superintendent Iranetta Wright said one of the changes the district made this year to improve the situation is new school start times.
"Last year there were about eight different start times across the city. This year we have four. Four start times," Wright said. "Why is that important? Because anyone that understands logistics understands that there has to be some level of tiering to make sure that you’re maximizing the transportation services that you have. We have four start times — an early start school is paired with a late start school."
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Drivers have also been practicing their routes recently, making sure they know where the bus stops are but also checking to make sure they're safe.
"We also have a process through 513-363-RIDE, which is our transportation hotline, that if a parent feels that their stop is unsafe, we follow up with that as well," Wright said.
Drifmeyer said when he called the hotline last year, nothing was done. This year, Wright said the hotline is staffed by CPS employees, rather than being contracted out.
"We really believe that it was really important for those individuals to be a part of CPS, to be employees of CPS and taking ownership for the work that’s happening at CPS," she said.
Another concern students shared with WCPO was related to the Metro routes for high school students. Because these aren't CPS-specific routes, some students said they felt uncomfortable or unsafe.
Wright said Metro recently spoke at a CPS board meeting and participated in a transportation town hall.
"One of the things that they raised is that if there are any questions, if there is a concern about the safety of a stop or if they're having challenge at a Metro stop, they should report that to Metro so that their staff can investigate that," she said.
Drifmeyer said he's hoping things are better this year, but he said he's not holding his breath.
"I know that we are at the point that we’re putting a GPS tracker on our child this year, just to find out where they are," said Drifmeyer.
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