Transportation Update: Family Calls Begin Today

Dear North Bend School District Families,
We want to provide a quick follow-up to our recent transportation update as we continue preparing for the start of school.

Beginning today, families who have signed up for bus transportation will begin receiving calls with their student's transportation information. Our goal is to reach all registered families by tomorrow. We appreciate your patience as First Student and district staff work through this process family by family.

In our previous transportation update, we shared that district staff and First Student have been meeting weekly throughout the summer to develop routes, review registrations, and prepare for the transition to a new transportation provider. We also shared that updated student registration was an important final piece in determining ridership and completing individual bus assignments.

As families begin receiving their information, we want to briefly revisit the priorities that have guided this work.

Throughout last year, one of the most consistent pieces of feedback we received from families was the need to reduce the amount of time students spend riding the bus. Increasing route efficiency and reducing student ride times have therefore been central to our planning.

This work is also taking place during a year of significant transition for our district. We have reconfigured our elementary schools as part of our response to declining enrollment and the instructional priorities identified through our strategic planning process, a process in which more than 2,000 students, staff, family, and community members contributed their voices. This transition supports our ability to continue to provide high-quality education to our students, yet also changes how students move throughout the district. At the same time, First Student is beginning its first year as our transportation provider following the district's competitive RFP process and the expiration of our previous transportation contract. While this all results in an enormous undertaking, it represents an important step forward for our district and the community we serve. 

We appreciate the support of our School Board throughout these transitions and its continued focus on student safety, responsible stewardship of district resources, and doing what is best for students. The detailed work of developing routes, assigning students, and implementing transportation service is the responsibility of district administration and our First Student transportation team. With the planning phase now concluding, we are excited to begin the new school year and move into the implementation phase of these transitions.

With all of these changes, one priority remains constant: student safety comes first. Our goal is to build a transportation system that is safe and reliable, while also creating more efficient routes and a better overall ridership experience for students.

We recognize that the beginning of a new transportation system will require some patience from all of us. Routes and actual ride times will continue to be monitored once students are on buses, and we will make adjustments where appropriate as we see how the system operates in real time.

Thank you to our families for your patience and partnership, and to our district and First Student teams for the many hours of work that have gone into preparing for the start of school. We are excited to welcome our students back and look forward to a positive start to the year.

North Bend School District