ST. LOUIS 鈥 Families looking for reassurance the school bus will show up in four weeks did not find it in the latest transportation update from top 51黑料 Public School administrators.
鈥淎s we get closer to Aug. 19, our goal is to make sure we communicate, provide updates, be transparent,鈥 Square Watson, SLPS operations chief, told the Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday night. 鈥淪o where we are now with the routes, as I鈥檝e learned this week, we still won鈥檛 cover all the routes.鈥
Missouri Central, the district鈥檚 main transportation vendor, terminated its $26 million contract with SLPS over the summer. The bus company had deployed a fleet of 228 conventional and short buses to serve 14,000 eligible students in 68 schools.
This school year, SLPS expects to spend $40 million for an unknown number of buses and smaller vehicles across at least 19 transportation vendors.
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The lack of coverage likely means the district will put out an emergency call for more transportation vendors before school starts in less than a month. Watson said there were 鈥渋nconsistencies鈥 in the commitments made last spring by the new vendors, which mostly operate shuttles, minivans or ride-share apps.
Board members pressed Watson and transportation director Toyin Akinola for answers about safety and communication of the five-point strategy to reduce the number of bus riders: adjusting bell times, switching high school students to MetroBus, reducing bus stops, deploying smaller cars and encouraging parents to opt-out of school transportation.
The plan also includes volunteer supervisors at MetroBus stops for an estimated 1,700 high school students, but none have been recruited and cannot complete background checks by the first day, board members said. Not all of the transportation vendors will have GPS tracking or communication portals for parents to access.
鈥淚鈥檓 having a lot of trouble when we have this level of very motley transportation,鈥 said board member Natalie Vowell.
Board secretary Donna Jones said she was concerned about increased student absenteeism and called on local businesses to help. Last year, more than half of SLPS students were chronically absent, or out more than 10% of school days, according to the state education department.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to ask if there are any companies or businesses that would be willing to provide gas cards for some (people) that are struggling because there are so many of them just like myself, gas is so high, and they want to get their children to school,鈥 Jones said.
Only 370 families have opted out of bus transportation, a key factor in reducing bus routes. Many are waiting on information about before- and afterschool child care after some school leaders have said the district won鈥檛 provide the service this year.
Millicent Borishade, deputy superintendent, told the board there will be the same number of spots for before and after care as last year.
The board on Tuesday also agreed to consider raising the property tax rate as the district faces a budget deficit of $35 million this year.
The tax rate was reduced in 2023 to $4.05 per $100 of assessed property values after millions in federal pandemic aid flowed into the district. Under Missouri law, the board can raise the tax rate as long as it doesn鈥檛 go above the voter-approved ceiling of $4.50 per $100 of assessed value.
The board is scheduled to set the new tax rate at a meeting in September.
District spokesman George Sells said in a statement Tuesday, 鈥淭his is not a tax increase. That would require approval from voters.鈥
The district鈥檚 troubles compounded on Friday when salary raises were not included in paychecks for an unknown number of SLPS administrators and other year-round employees.
Sells did not respond to questions about the status of the raises.
Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, who is set to start her second year leading the district, did not speak during the board meeting held over videoconference. The board and Scarlett face scrutiny for hiring or awarding contracts to at least a dozen people with ties to her last employer, Seattle Public Schools.
Board president Toni Cousins last week called for an investigation of the recent hires, saying the board is 鈥渙nly responsible for hiring and firing one person, and that鈥檚 the superintendent.鈥
Keisha Scarlett explains why she wants to be SLPS superintendent in a video recorded on January 24th, 2023 by the 51黑料 Public Schools. Each of the candidates was asked the same 5 questions while they were here interviewing for the position. (Video courtesy 51黑料 Public Schools)
