Columbia Public Schools' Transportation Department reported that in the first few weeks of the school year, 47.9% of district buses arrived and departed on time.
Tony Maltbia, the district's director of transportation and fleet manager, presented a transportation evaluation at a Columbia School Board meeting Monday. The Transportation Department puts together a program evaluation every other year.
Maltbia said that at the start of the school year, the department was down 14 drivers, which impacted the low on-time performance. He said the data was collected as of Sept. 25.
The district’s target is to have 95% to 98% of buses operating on time.
Maltbia clarified that the data for on-time performance referred only to getting students to and from school. It did not include busing students to field trips or school games.
In response to a question by School Board Member April Ferrao about addressing tardiness, Maltbia said Student Transportation of America, the district's busing company, has been working on a plan. This plan, which will adjust bus routes, will be put in place Tuesday.
Outside of on-time performance, the evaluation looked at how full buses were, the average time students spent on the bus and accident rates.
From a one-day snapshot, the report found that on average, buses were at 66.3% capacity. This fell short of the district’s target of having buses 80% to 90% full of students.
Students spent an average of 33 minutes riding the bus, which was just over the district’s goal of 30 minutes.
The department calculated the accident rate by counting the number of accidents per 100,000 miles driven. They found the accident rate was 2.15%. The district's target is zero percent.
Maltbia noted that this rate only refers to accidents that happen while students are on the bus. He said there have been other bus accidents when students were not present.
The evaluation also looked at driver retention. It found that this year, the turnover rate was 11% for bus drivers. The district's goal is to have a turnover rate of less than 10%.
Using survey feedback from 37 building administrators, the evaluation found 78.4% were satisfied with bus transportation services provided to students.
The department plans to send surveys to parents and guardians in the spring to improve services for next school year.
Achievement update
Chief Academic Officer Jeff Klein said the district has seen positive results in fall i-Ready assessments this year. He compared scores from this fall to October 2023.
Klein presented data for students from kindergarten through eighth grade as part of an update on the district’s Continuous School Improvement Plan. CSIP is a five-year improvement plan, mandated by the state. The district's plan aims to improve attendance, decrease out-of-school suspensions, improve teacher retention and increase MAP assessment scores.
Klein said that over 50% of students in every grade level made a year's worth of growth in literacy since last fall. He said the goal by the end of the year is to be at 62%.
As for math i-Ready results, Klein said 67.6% of students made a year's worth of growth since last fall.
"Two-thirds of all scholars are demonstrating growth at CPS, and we will get that up to the 80s and 90s as we move forward," Yearwood said.
After going over i-Ready results, Klein discussed attendance and suspension rates.
As of Oct. 8, student attendance for this school year was 82.3%, which was a slight decline from 83.9% last October. However, Klein said the attendance was still good in comparison to the 2022-23 school year attendance rate of 80.8%.
Klein said steps are being taken to make sure attendance data is accurate and that schools are counting every student. Schools are taking initiative by providing attendance incentives, communicating with parents through attendance letters and encouraging students to track their own attendance.
There have been 3,392 total behavior incidents district-wide, 190 more incidents compared to this time last year. Despite this increase in incidents, in-school and out-of-school suspensions decreased. As of Oct. 8, there have been 479 in-school suspensions, 364 out-of-school suspensions and 2,757 non-suspension incidents this fall.
Klein mentioned that academics, behavior and attendance are intertwined. Board President Suzette Waters said she wants to see the data for the three overlaid.
“Students that had that 90% attendance had twice the proficiency in ELA and almost triple that in math,” Waters said.
Public comment
Lara Wakefield, who works with families who have children with disabilities in the district, expressed concerns about the visitor policy.
She said the current policy makes it difficult for parents of students with Individualized Education Plans to observe their child's education . She said she was concerned about the policy's high potential for discrimination.
Wakefield also said the bullying portal is difficult for parents to access. She asked that the portal be moved to the top of the district's website to improve accessibility.
Tonya Kemp, parent of a junior at Battle High School, brought up the need for more resources at the school.
Kemp suggested adding another homeschool communicator, creating an alternative school structure for students who were underperforming in traditional classrooms and adding wraparound services to address mental health struggles, housing instabilities and exposure to violence.
Kemp concluded her public comment by quoting Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civil rights advocate, saying: "Treating different things the same can generate as much inequality as treating the same things differently."
Construction agreements
The board unanimously approved five construction projects, which will be funded by the district’s special maintenance or capital projects funds.
The projects include a playground addition for Battle Elementary School, roof replacement services for Benton and West Boulevard elementary schools, design renovations for Roseta Avenue Learning Center, and flooring and loading dock replacements for West Middle School.
The projects will total $369,000.
Legislative priorities
The board approved its legislative priorities for this school year. These priorities include allotting funding toward recruiting and retaining teachers, summer school and school bus transportation.
During the meeting, Waters proposed adding free breakfast and lunch for students to the board's priorities for funding. The board approved adding this priority.
