The first day of the new school year near Austin, Texas, started in a way no transportation professional or school official would ever want. Thankfully, everyone involved in the rollover crash on their way home have since been released from the hospital.
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services confirmed a school bus rollover involving Leander Independent School District occurred Aug. 13 at 3:15 p.m. The school bus, which primarily transports students to and from Bagdad Elementary School, was transporting 42 children, leaving 12 needing transport to the hospital, including the school bus driver.
At the time of the crash, most students had not yet been dropped off.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced the day following the crash it is coordinating with the Texas Department of Public Safety on a safety investigation.
Sgt. Billy Ray, the public information officer for Texas DPS, noted the preliminary crash investigation indicates the school bus was traveling south on Nameless Road, which includes a slight curve. For an unknown reason as of this report, the school bus left the right side of the roadway and rolled over.
The 2024 Blue Bird school bus was equipped with lap/shoulder seatbelts, per state law. The state requires model-year 2018 or newer school buses to be equipped with the three-point seatbelts. School districts can opt out if the board determines that the cost exceeds the district’s budget and votes on it during a public meeting.
Information on whether students were wearing their lap/shoulder seatbelts was unknown at this time. But state law says students are required to wear the occupant restraints if the school bus is equipped with them.
Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing noted that information on the school bus driver was limited, but they are a “seasoned veteran bus driver.”
Gearing added that in addition to the deadly Central Texas floods last month, the Leander ISD family has been through a lot. “This tragedy is breaking our hearts,” he said. “We want each of the students and their families to know that our prayers are with them. Our thoughts are with them. And we will do everything in our power to support them.”
The “Bus Buddies” program returned to Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District in Texas, making the first school bus rides of the new school year a safe and fun experience for students.
An initiative that’s been at Cypress-Fairbanks for over a decade, the Bus Buddies program is designed to help younger students in the district’s 59 elementary campuses who are learning proper school bus safety and the route home from school. The program has one volunteer per school bus to ride with the students and ensure they know which stop to exit the bus. Kayne Smith, Cy-Fair ISD’s transportation director, said that the volunteers come from the community, school administration, and school board members.
The volunteers rode along with the students for the first two days of school to “assist school bus drivers to ensure our youngest riders ride safely, including wearing seatbelts, staying seated, and most importantly, ensuring they know safely exit the bus at the correct stop on the first day of school,” explained Smith.
“This has been a very successful program with hundreds of volunteers in our district. We are very fortunate for this support from our administration, Board, and community for our drivers and our youngest students on these first days of school,” he added.
Communities In Schools (CIS) of Cape Fear, North Carolina is calling on local residents and businesses to take part in its annual ‘Stuff the Bus’ school supply drive that helps local students ahead of the school year, reported WECT News.
According to the news report, for 25 years, the ‘Stuff the Bus’ drive has helped thousands of students with essential school supplies. The program continues to play a critical role in promoting equity in classrooms across New Hanover and Pender counties.
“Lacking essential supplies can hinder a student’s ability to participate at school, leading to absenteeism, disengagement and lower academic performance,” said Kendall Englehart, the communications manager for CIS of Cape Fear via the article. “This drive is an easy way for everyone to lend a hand and prevent barriers like these in the classroom.”
This year’s main collection event take places Aug. 13 and 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at two Wilmington locations: Office Depot at Hanover Center and Staples on College Road. During those hours, school buses will be parked outside to receive donations of new school supplies.
Once the collection ends, CIS Cape Fear said all donated items will be sorted by volunteers and distributed directly to students in need.
For those unable to attend in person, donation barrels will be placed at over 60 participating businesses and community organizations throughout the region. In addition, CIS Cape Fear is accepting contributions through its Amazon wishlist and direct donations.
For more information, including a list of needed supplies and donation locations, visit here.
As students in Fruitland, Missouri gear up for the new school year, safety took center stage at the community’s annual Back to School Bash, where children received hands-on lessons in both school bus safety and fire emergency preparedness.
The event was hosted by the Fruitland Area Fire Protection District, which partnered with certified instructors to teach the students how to stay safe during their daily rides to and from school.
“Today we are doing a back-to-school bash. Our main focus is going to be on school bus safety for the kids,” said firefighter and paramedic Adam Hilse via a Facebook video highlighting the event,. “We want to make sure the kids stay safe while they’re on the bus.”
Hilse emphasized the importance of children knowing what to do in the event of an emergency, saying it could make a critical difference.
“It’s really important that they know this information because if an incident does happen, we want the kids to stay calm and know that there’s a plan in place,” he said to a local news reporter.
In addition to school bus safety, students also participated in a fire safety simulation, crawling through a fog-filled smokehouse to practice how to react during a house fire. The hands-on experience taught them how to stay low and navigate their way out safely.
“They can get an idea of what they need to do if that happens, how to stay low and crawl out of a building,” Hilse added to local news reporters.
The fun-filled and educational day also included a visit from Marshall, the department’s beloved fire dog, which brought plenty of smiles to the crowd. From practicing real-world safety scenarios to meeting local heroes, Fruitland students left the bash better prepared and more excited to head back to school.
Rising senior Cole Mellom finishes the top of a smoker he created in a Beloit Memorial High School academy that features manufacturing. | Photo by Wayne D’Orio for The Hechinger Report
BELOIT, Wis. — As Chris Hooker eyed a newly built piece of ductwork inside Beloit Memorial High School, a wry smile crept over his face. “If you worked for me,” he told a student, considering the obviously crooked vent, “I might ask if your level was broken.”
Hooker, the HVAC manager of Lloyd’s Plumbing and Heating Corp. in nearby Janesville, was standing inside a hangar-sized classroom in the school’s advanced manufacturing academy, where students construct full-size rooms, hang drywall and learn the basics of masonry. His company sends him to the school twice a week for about two months a year to help teach general heating, venting and air conditioning concepts to students.
“I cover the mountaintop stuff,” he said, noting that at a minimum students will understand HVAC when they become homeowners.
But the bigger potential payoff is that these students could wind up working alongside Hooker after they graduate. If his firm has an opening, any student recommended by teacher Mike Wagner would be a “done deal,” Hooker said. “Plus, if they come through this class, I know them.”
Manufacturing and construction dominate the business needs inside Beloit, a small city of 36,000 just minutes from the Illinois border. Sitting at the nexus of two major highways, and within 100 miles of Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, Beloit is home to a range of businesses that include a Frito-Lay production plant, an Amazon distribution center and a Navy subcontractor. In the next two years, a $500 million casino and hotel complex is scheduled to open.
But staffing these companies into the future is a major concern. Across the country, the average age of manufacturing workers is increasing, and one in four of these workers is age 55 or older, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 figures, the most recent available. In many other jobs the workforce is aging, too. Wisconsin is one of several states looking to boost career and technical education, or CTE, as a possible solution to the aging and shrinking workforce.
While the unemployment rate of Rock County, which includes Beloit, is 3.6 percent, only slightly higher than the state’s 3.2 percent, there’s a worker mismatch in the city, according to Drew Pennington, its economic development director.
Every day, 14,000 city residents travel outside of Beloit to work, while the same number commute into the city to fill mostly higher-paying jobs, said Pennington.
So when Beloit decided to revamp its public high school in 2018, CTE and work-based learning were at the forefront of the transformation.
The 1,225-student school now has three academies that cover 13 different career paths. After ninth grade, students choose to concentrate in an area, which means taking several courses in a specific field. Students also have the option to do work-based learning, which can mean internships, a youth apprenticeship or working at high-end simulated job sites inside the school.
“This creates not just a pipeline to jobs but also to career choices,” said Jeff Stenroos, the district’s director of CTE and alternative education.
A student’s detailed outline for creating a truss in Michelle Kelly’s 10th grade algebra class at Beloit Memorial High School, which is embracing career and technical education. | Photo by Wayne D’Orio for The Hechinger Report
“There are a lot of really good-paying jobs in this area. Students don’t need to leave, or go earn a four-year degree,” Stenroos said. An auto mechanic can “earn six figures by the age of 26 and that’s more than an educator with a master’s degree,” he said.
Beloit’s effort is a shift in high school emphasis similar to the extensive CTE programs being run in other places, notably Indiana, Kentucky and Alabama. In 2024, 40 states enacted 152 CTE-related policies, the biggest push in five years, according to Advance CTE, a nonprofit group that represents state CTE officials. Nationwide, about 20 percent of high school students take a concentration of CTE courses, it says, adding that the high school graduation rate for students who concentrate in CTE is 90 percent, 15 percentage points higher than the national average.
Three years ago, Wisconsin called for 7 percent of its high school students to be in workplace learning programs by 2026. Beloit’s progress puts it far ahead of that target. In Beloit Memorial, nearly 1 in 3 students meet this designation today, Stenroos said.
The high school features a cavernous construction area where students build full-scale rooms, learn masonry and complete plumbing and electrical wiring projects. The metal shop offers 16 welding stations and a die-cutter machine that allows students to create customized pieces to fit projects. Down the street, the school runs an eight-bay car repair center, a space it took over when a Sears autobody shop left town.
These spaces are “better than a lot of technical colleges,” Stenroos said.
In addition to their high school courses, Beloit Memorial students pile up industry-recognized certifications, Stenroos said. More than 40 percent of its students graduate with at least one certification, and 1 in 4 of them has multiple certifications.
While some simple certifications, such as OSHA Workplace Safety, can be accomplished in just 10 hours, others, such as those for the American Welding Society, require up to 500 hours of student work, he added. The state has called for 9 percent of graduating high school students to have earned at least one certification by next year. To incentivize schools to offer these opportunities, the state’s Department of Workforce Development pays schools for each student who earns a certification; in 2024, Beloit received $85,000 through this program, Stenroos said.
One of the school’s best automotive students, Geiry Lopez, graduated this year with five Automotive Service Excellence certifications. Standing less than 5 feet tall, Lopez said she is not bothered that she might not look like a typical mechanic. “I know I can do this,” she said, adding that she hopes to work on heavy machinery such as tractor trailers after she graduates.
She’s worked on her own car, with some fellow students, replacing the brakes, a front axle, rotors and wheel bearings at the school’s garage, she said, although she still hasn’t been able to drive it.
“My dad is taking forever to teach me how to drive,” she said.
Having industry standard machines is a key part of Beloit Memorial High School’s manufacturing program; here a student uses a JET metalworking machine to create precise cuts for his project. | Photo by Wayne D’Orio for The Hechinger Report
The garage operates like an actual business, but the only customers are teachers and other Beloit staffers and students. Students estimate work costs, order parts and communicate with customers before any repairs take place. While oil changes and brake replacements are common, some students are totally rebuilding an engine in one car.
Over in the welding room, rising senior Cole Mellom was putting the finishing touches on a smoker he built in less than a month’s time. He said he loved the creativity of finding a plan, cutting the metal and building something that he could sell, all while in school. Plus, he knows that welding is a key skill needed for his dream job, race-car fabrication.
In the past, students created a custom-made protective plate that the city’s police use on a bomb squad vehicle.
The welding program has 125 students this year and had to turn away 65 more because of space limitations, Stenroos said; last year, 17 of the school’s welding academy graduates enlisted in the armed forces to specialize in welding.
These programs are designed to help meet the future needs of the state’s workforce. More than one-third of Wisconsin jobs will require education beyond high school but less than a bachelor’s degree by 2031, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education. For the last four years, the state has had more job openings than people on unemployment.
“There’s more jobs than there are people to fill them right now,” said Deb Prowse, a former career academy coach at Beloit Memorial who now works at Craftsman with Character, an area nonprofit that helps train students for careers in skilled trades.
Officials revamped the Beloit Memorial High School in 2018 to funnel students into academies that are connected to jobs in the area and the state. | Photo by Wayne D’Orio for The Hechinger Report
Hooker, the Lloyd’s Plumbing HVAC manager, agreed. “Every project we work on has a delay, from a multimillion-dollar mansion to a three-bedroom spec,” he said. “There aren’t enough workers.”
The main reason Beloit Memorial has been able to zoom past state and national goals for both CTE and work-based learning is the school’s single-minded focus since 2018 on helping to ensure that its graduates will understand what businesses need and giving them a head start toward gaining those skills.
High school officials actually pared back the program from 44 pathways to 13, Stenroos said, part of an effort to tie each pathway to specific jobs. About 75 percent of pathways target area jobs, with the remaining quarter highlighting prominent professions within the state, he added.
Even though three straight budget referendum defeats have left the district with a $6.2 million funding gap, Stenroos said he’s been able to keep the CTE equipment modernized through donations and strategic allocation of the school’s federal Perkins grant and the state reimbursement for student certifications. In one instance, the school recently bought a $20,000 scanner for its automotive program; the machine can not only help diagnose a car problem, but also connect students to garages throughout the country that have successfully fixed the specified problem.
“It’s an expensive piece of equipment,” Stenroos said, “but it’s industry-certified and will give students real-life experience.”
Each of the three academies has an advisory board of teachers and industry professionals who work out how to embed practical lessons in classroom curriculum. “We ask business people, ‘What do you need, and how can we help our kids get there?’ ” said Stenroos.
“It’s really cool how receptive the school is to feedback,” said Heather Dobson, the business development manager at Corporate Contractors, Inc., a 200-person general contracting firm.
She explained that the district has incorporated small changes over the years, such as having students work in Microsoft programs instead of Google Classroom apps and teaching them how to write a professional email.
“Rarely is there an idea presented that they don’t embrace,” said Celestino Ruffini, the CEO of Visit Beloit, a nonprofit that promotes tourism of the city. The school is expanding its hospitality program because of the expected influx of jobs connected to the new casino and hotel, he said.
All the changes aren’t at the high school, however. In order to employ Beloit Memorial students, Frito-Lay had to alter its corporate policy of not allowing anyone under 18 to work in its plants, according to Angela Slagle, a supply chain manager there. The company now hires Beloit Memorial students for its career exploration youth apprenticeship program, she added.
The connection to area businesses goes beyond the school’s leaders. Each year, about 10 teachers complete an externship in which they spend one week of their summer at a local business. Teachers are paid $1,000 for the 20 hours, and they not only learn about what jobs a company may have but also find ways to incorporate real-world problems into their classroom lessons.
A few summers back, math teacher Michelle Kelly spent a week at Corporate Contractors. She was searching for different ways to use construction-based math problems with her students. In addition to using math to estimate a bid for a project or calculate the surface area of a job, she realized that complex math is needed to build a truss, the framework used to support a roof or bridge.
Because the triangular truss is supported by different lengths of wood inside its structure, Kelly said, building one requires the calculation of angles, total area, how much wood is needed and more. Since all her algebra students were in the school’s construction academy, she partnered with those teachers to go beyond blueprints and have the 10th graders build trusses, a collection of which sit in the back of her classroom.
She sees this work as one way to help counter the chronic absenteeism that has existed since Covid. Teaching with this kind of hands-on work makes students see the relevance of algebra, she said. “Would it be easier to just have them take a test? Yes.”
Beloit Memorial Principal Emily Pelz said the school’s work is paying off. In the last four years, the school’s four-year graduation rate has ticked up slightly, from 83.4 percent in 2021-22 to 85.2 percent in 2024-25, while its attendance went from 78.5 percent to 84.8 percent in the same period, Pelz said.
Rik Thomas, a rising senior who already has his own business repairing and modifying cars, said this work has definitely made him more interested in school. While he thought the academy would merely explain what a construction career might include, “It’s nice to find out how to do the work.” His father works in construction and, Thomas added, “He loves that I take this program.”
Thomas and his classmates built a wooden shed earlier this year and were able to sell it for $2,500, with the money going to pay for more materials. Likewise, the first smoker created in the welding class was bought by Stenroos; the students are looking forward to posting the second one for sale after they determine how much they should charge.
While the school’s construction and other trade-related fields have drawn the most attention, its three academies also offer career paths in healthcare, education, business, the arts, hospitality and more.
For example, rising senior Tayvon Cates said he hopes to study pre-med at a historically Black college or university on his way to becoming a cardiology radiologist. Cates, who is in the school’s health and education academy, said, “If you want to do something, the school can help you do it.”
As the 2025–26 school year kicks off, school districts face increasing pressure to modernize their student transportation systems — both to meet rising demand and to ensure every student has safe, equitable access to learning. In this webinar, we’ll explore how forward-thinking district leaders are reimagining transportation through technology, flexible solutions, and a student-first mindset.
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The School District of Philadelphia is gearing up for its annual “Ring the Bell” bus tour ahead of the upcoming academic year.
The “Ring the Bell” bus tour consists of a colorful school bus that visits multiple locations across Philadelphia during the summer, typically late July through mid‑August.
During each stop, families can pick up free backpacks and school supplies while supplies last, access on‑site registration for PreK–12th grade, sign up for the Parent Portal to access student information online, participate in interactive educational activities, games, and raffles, enjoy snacks and frozen treats, and receive immunizations and school physicals (at select sites).
According to the district’s website, all bus tours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting July 28 through Aug. 15. Locations can be found here.
The aim of the tour, which is built around a “festival-like” community experience, is to eliminate barriers for busy families by bringing services directly to neighborhoods, so parents don’t have to hunt for information.
The festive atmosphere often includes raffles, prizes, and fun for kids and families.
As part of the Salvation Army’s annual Stuff the Bus fundraiser, school supplies are being collected to help students in Fort Wayne, Indiana stock up ahead of the new school year, reported 21alive News.
According to the article, the school supply drive will kick off at at local Walmart. A full list of needed school supplies can be found here.
Organizers will at the Walmart until 6 p.m. local time, collecting donations. However, donations will be accepted through Tuesday.
Families in need can sign to receive supplies. The donation distribution is planned for July 30 from 4-7 p.m., at the local Salvation Army.
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The Fulton Homes annual Stuff the Bus back-to-school drive event in Arizona is underway at Chandler Fashion Center, reported ABC 15.
According to the news report, from this week through July 6, a school bus will be parked at the mall just outside the food court, accepting donations for K-12 school supplies. The supplies will be given to students receiving help through the nonprofit Save the Family.
Fulton Homes, Save the Family and Phoenix-based radio station KUPD are reportedly hosting a promotional event at Chandler Fashion Center with free giveaways on Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The article states that Spinato’s Pizza, Mrs. Fields, JD Sports, P.F. Changs, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, and the Mexicano will participate this year, handing out free food and giveaways to the first 50 school donations.
The death of Alfred Hale sparked a debate in the community on the lack of safety around downtown transit hubs.
The 18-year-old student of Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio was shot and killed in April while waiting for a transit bus to take him to school. For decades, many school districts across the U.S. have relied on public transportation to transport high school students. The practice has only increased especially after COVID-19 due to financial and staff shortages.
Ohio House Bill 96 introduces a budget plan that will allocate more funding to all public schools in FY 2026 and 2027.
“The bill increases overall state support for public schools by $81 million in FY26 and $145 million in FY27 over the executive proposal, for a total of $226 million,” a press release on the bill states. “Additionally, per-pupil funding was increased for every student across Ohio.”
Additionally, the bill would require school districts that provide or arrange for transportation of eligible students in the ninth through twelfth grades to ensure that students are assigned to routes that do not require more than one transfer. Mass transit systems located in one of Ohio’s eight most populous counties would need to ensure that transfers don’t occur at a central hub, like the one where Hale was shot.
HB96 passed the House April 9 and was introduced in the Senate.
Dayton Board of Education President Chrisondra Goodwine disagrees with the bill. She released a statement on the tragedy, stating that the ban on student transfers, “is a reactionary move that fails to address the underlying problems. It restricts student access to education and imposes further barriers on already vulnerable youth—without offering any alternative solutions.”
Goodwine added Hale’s death is not a school issue but a citywide crisis.
“The burden of safety cannot fall on schools alone,” she wrote. “Every sector— education, local government, law enforcement, transportation, and commerce—has a shared responsibility in ensuring that our city is not only livable but truly thriving for everyone.”
She noted recent statements from city elected officials that place blame for the systemic challenges on Dayton Public Schools.
“That narrative is not only misleading—it is harmful,” she stated. “It oversimplifies the issue and ignores the very real legal and financial constraints placed on public school districts across Ohio.”
Instead, Goodwine outlined limitations codified in state law that require transportation is provided not only to Dayton students but also to charter and private school students within district boundaries. Dayton Public Schools lacks the legal authority to prioritize only its students, she continued, as well as adequate staffing and funding to place every child on a yellow school bus.
“Because of these limitations, some students must use public transportation,” Goodwine states. “The Greater Dayton RTA is not an educational partner—it is a public transit system governed by federal rules that ensure equitable access to all. While we do engage where possible to improve safety, DPS has no control over how RTA routes passengers or determines transfer points. These decisions are made solely by RTA based on their operational model and obligations to the general public.”
A citywide commitment to youth by opening recreational facilities, expanding mentorship opportunities, and centering teen-focused investments.
She said if city leaders want to be solution-oriented, they can start by opening doors to recreational centers and buildings that are underutilized or vacant but otherwise available to the district or afterschool partners to serve as “safe, structured environments tailored to teenagers— especially in a city where youth have limited access to activities that are engaging, safe, and empowering.”
“Changing the trajectory for young people requires more than statements—it requires investment in their future,” she added. “At the same time, we call on the State of Ohio to change the laws that continue to create barriers to a better reality for our students. Allow public districts to serve their students first. Fund transportation adequately. And stop penalizing urban districts trying to meet modern-day challenges with outdated policies.”
She is also calling for adequate state funding to support driver recruitment, fleet expansion, and improved routing systems.
The Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation issued a formal statement in support of Dayton Public Schools, Goodwine and the broader transportation crisis in Ohio.
“If Ohio’s elected officials are serious about creating lasting change and protecting our children, they must stop blaming overburdened school districts and start providing the legal authority, funding, and infrastructure necessary to meet today’s realities,” OPTA states. “The Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation stands ready to work with lawmakers, school, leaders, and community partners to bring about these much-needed reforms.”
OPTA notes that Hale’s death in Dayon highlights the need for systemic change and multiagency collaboration to ensure student safety.
“It is unacceptable that a student’s route to school becomes a place of violence,” OPTA states. “And it is equally unacceptable to assign blame to school districts without acknowledging the legal and financial realities they face.”
OPTA notes that the law requiring public school districts to transport students not only to and from their assigned schools but also students attending charter and private school extends service up to 30 minutes outside those boundaries.
“This requirement, imposed without proportional funding or flexibility, has pushed many districts to the brink,” OPTA states.
As of last August, Ohio had 18,817 active school bus drivers, a decrease of nearly 7,000 from 2019, OAPT said. Meanwhile. The demand for transportation services continues to rise due to expanding private and charter school mandates, and lawmakers have failed to address any of the root causes..
“Dayton Public Schools is being asked to do more with less, navigating rigid laws and an acute driver shortage while trying to ensure safe passage for students to over 90 locations,” added OAPT. “These proposals are not only short-sighted, they exacerbate the problem by restricting access to education for some of our most vulnerable students.”
OPTA joined Dayton in calling for: Legislative reform that allows public school districts to prioritize transportation for their own students before allocating resources to nonpublic schools; adequate and equitable funding for public school transportation, including driver recruitment incentives, modernized fleets, and safety upgrades; a re-commitment to public education over expanding voucher systems that divert public funds to private interests, undermining Article VI, Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution; and, a clear focus on student safety, including reinstating the yellow school bus as the “gold standard” for student transportation and rejecting lower safety alternatives like vans and car services for daily transport.
The number of charter schools in the U.S. is growing. This is creating new opportunities for private school companies that serve charter and private schools.
According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, charter schools added more than 80,000 new students during the 2023-2024 school year. Local public schools lost about 1.8 million students from the 2020-2021 school year while charter school enrollment grew by almost 400,000 students during the same period, creating a noticeable contrast in enrollment trends.
Many of the larger and innovative private school transportation companies don’t treat charter schools or private schools differently than public schools. They are closely monitoring the trend of more charter schools coming online.
An example of the changing dynamics in a large school system can be found in South Florida. The Broward County Public School District reported its enrollment declined by about 30,000 over the past 10 years and will likely decline by another 9,000 students this year. School board meetings over the past 12 months have discussed closing school sites.
The Florida Legislature has made it easier for charter schools to open and use existing public-school buildings for their campuses. The state also expanded eligibility for school choice vouchers to all students.
Alternative student transportation provider HopSkipDrive offers transportation to growing charter schools and is looking for ways to further serve the market.
The company works with students who are facing various challenges and may not be served as well by traditional school bus systems. Examples include students who must move frequently because they are homeless or in the foster care system, or they may have a severe disability. HopSkipDrive offers flexibility.
Emily Uhland, vice president of customer success at HopSkipDrive, said the company works to provide the best service for all students. “HopSkipDrive is a proud partner to over 600 school districts around the country, as well as many charter and private schools. The fact is, no matter what school a child is attending they can only get there if they have safe, reliable transportation,” she said.
She noted that many charter and private schools may not own school buses or are stretched too thin with transportation requests from students who live far away. This can make supplemental and small vehicle transportation a better fit.
Bethany Gross, left, of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Launi Harden, then director of transportation for Washington County School District in Utah, during a July 29, 2019 panel at STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada, on the impacts of charter schools and school choice on student transportation.
Traditional school bus companies are also finding more opportunities to serve charter and private schools.
First Student operates in 43 states and has 46,000 school buses. While the company strives to offer the best possible service to all its customers, it may face different requirements when serving smaller charter schools than when it serves large public school districts.
No two schools are the same as some operate independently and may need few school buses, while others are part of larger networks and need more school buses, according to Kim Worster, senior vice president for First Student.
First Student offers full transportation management. This means the company can fully take over and manage systems from route planning to fleet operations to driver staffing.
“For schools that prefer to remain in control of certain operations, we provide buses and technology while they keep their own drivers,” said Worster “We can maintain the school’s existing bus fleet to keep them running safely and reduce the burden of operations for their team. We offer fully trained drivers who meet our safety standards.” .
The company also offers its own alternative transportation, FirstAlt, that uses smaller vehicles.
Worster continued, “HALO is our proprietary technology platform designed to streamline and optimize school bus fleet operations, and it integrates every aspect of First Student’s operations from recruiting and training to routing, dispatching, navigation, vehicle telematics into one system,” said Worster.
The system offers parents and the district visibility to track vehicles and view live updates. It also offers streamlined recruiting and training, resulting in reduced onboarding time and a 90 percent average pass rate on CDL exams on the first attempt. Because of smart routing and safety monitoring there is continuous evaluation of routes, improving safety and efficiency. AI-powered safety incorporates AI cameras to detect potential hazards, providing real-time alerts and recording critical moments for improvements. The end-to-end platform provides a real-time, 360-degree view of fleet performance to enhance operational efficiency, safety and communication, Worster explained.
World of Kids Transportation Corp, based in Pembroke Pines, Florida is working with charter and private schools. It is choosing to grow slowly and meet the needs of various schools, according to a spokesperson.
At the federal level, House Republicans plan to reserve up to $5 billion a year for scholarships to help families send their children to private and religious schools. This is considered a first major effort to use public money to pay for private education.
This proposal is part of a budget reconciliation bill released May 12 that would promote President Donald Trump’s goal of establishing universal school choice by offering families throughout the nation the option to provide their children an education different from the one offered at their local public school. Almost all families would qualify except those earning more than three times the local economy.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, and Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana, have reintroduced the bipartisan Equitable Access to School Facilities Act.
This legislation would make it easier for charter schools to access public property and provide federal grants to states for charter school facilities. The grants, available from the Federal Charter Schools Program, could be used by charter schools to acquire and renovate existing facilities, cover ongoing facilities costs, or create a reserve fund for future acquisition, renovation, or maintenance.
“All students deserve a high-quality education that prepares them for success in college and their career. Across Colorado, charter schools improve student achievement and provide students with the flexibility and innovative teaching they need,” said Bennet. “This bill will invest in charter schools and give them additional tools to support students of every background.”
“When families have the opportunity to send their child to a charter school, they are empowered to choose the best education that meets their child’s needs,” said Cassidy. “This legislation strengthens charter schools, giving them greater tools to help children succeed in the classroom.”
The Equitable Access to School Facilities Act seeks to improve charter schools’ access to facilities funding and financing within a state by reducing gaps in funding between charter schools and other public schools and adding a revolving loan fund. It will promote charter schools’ utilization of public buildings without a federal interest and increase charter schools’ access to facilities located in low-income and rural communities.
AASA: The School Superintendents Association supports public school choice, including charter schools, provided they operate under the governance of local public school boards.
The organization’s belief and position statements says charter schools must adhere to common regulations and accountability standards applied to all schools receiving public funding.
Charter school financing, it continues, should be standardized and aligned to ensure their creation does not negatively impact the quality of existing public schools.
The father of a Wisconsin teenage girl who killed a teacher and fellow student in a school shooting was charged with felonies Thursday in connection with the case, police said.
The shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison last December.
Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, of Madison, was taken into custody around 3:45 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Rupnow was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child and two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 resulting in death. All three charges are felonies, punishable by up to six years in prison each. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on Friday.
Rupnow’s daughter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, opened fire on Dec. 16, 2024, at Abundant Life Christian School, killing a teacher and a 14-year-old student before killing herself. Two other students were critically injured.
Jeffrey Rupnow did not immediately respond to a message The Associated Press left on his Facebook page. No one immediately returned voicemails left at possible telephone listings for him and his ex-wife, Melissa Rupnow. Online court records indicate he represented himself in the couple’s 2022 divorce and do not list an attorney for him in that case.
According to a criminal complaint, Rupnow told investigators that his daughter was traumatized by her parents’ divorce and got into shooting guns after he took her shooting on a friend’s land. He said he bought her two handguns and told her the access code to his gun safe was his Social Security number entered backward.
Investigators discovered writings in her room in which she describes humanity as “filth,” hated people, got her weapons through her father’s “stupidity” and wanted to kill herself in front of everyone. She built a cardboard model of the school and developed a schedule for her attack that ended just after noon with the notation: “ready 4 death.”
Police recovered a 9 mm Glock handgun that her father had bought her from a study hall where she opened fire and another .22-caliber pistol that her father had given to her as a Christmas present in a bag she had been carrying through the school.
Twelve days after the shooting, a Madison police detective received a message from Jeffrey Rupnow saying his biggest mistake was teaching his kid safe gun handling and urging police to warn people to change the codes on their gun safes every two to three months.
“Kids are smart and they will figure it out. Just like someone trying to hack your bank account.’ I just want to protect other families from going through what I’m going through,” he said.
Jeffrey Rupnow is the latest parent of a school shooter to face charges associated with an attack.
Last year, the mother and father of a school shooter in Michigan who killed four students in 2021 were each convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The mother was the first parent in the U.S. to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass school attack.
The father of a 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was arrested in September and faces charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for letting his son possess a weapon.
In 2023, the father of a man charged in a deadly Fourth of July parade shooting in suburban Chicago pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanors related to how his son obtained a gun license.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup.This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.
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