Asheville City Schools Buses Reach Capacity, Actively Looking for Drivers to Provide Much-Needed Space
Overview
Asheville County Schools are currently fighting a battle against overcrowdedness as student enrollment skyrockets. A major concern ties to the buses and transport facilities reaching their capacity. The educational authority is calling for new bus drivers to accommodate the increasing number of students in need of daily transport services.
Increasing Student Enrollment
The beginning of the 2024 academic session witnessed an unexpected rise in student enrollment across Asheville City Schools. The Transportation Director of ACS, Amanda Rigsby believes that this increase in confidence among parents to send their children back to school might be due to the waning fear of the pandemic. The logistical challenges emerge with 1,903 students requiring bus services each day, resulting in several buses serving multiple elementary schools and then driving out to additional routes serving further campuses.
Fight against Capacity
” We haven’t seen this level of enrollment in student transportation since pre-pandemic. We had higher numbers last year at around 1,600. I never anticipated 1,900,” says Amanda Rigsby. With 22 drivers adjusting their routines to accommodate the increasing number of students each day, the buses are reaching their full capacity. Rigsby assures that they will manage as long as the buses do not exceed capacity. However, concerns are being raised due to overcrowding within some buses.
Parent Interactions
Many parents have raised concerns about the prevalent overcrowding. Their collective concerns include examples of high schoolers sitting in the bus aisle, four children sharing a bus seat, and constant complaints of children riding in overcrowded buses. Rigsby acknowledges these concerns and even valued that fact that some parents have made excellent additions to their team of drivers.
Recruiting Drive
Showcasing her concerns, Rigsby placed an open call for recruiting new drivers to manage the crowd. “I love to talk to parents. I’ve recruited going through the line at supermarkets — it was just a word of mouth.” She added that as of the current times, the school does not include staff members like custodians, support staff, or principals to help with driving. They are only considering it as an option to tackle the current bus capacity situation.
Key Recommendations
Data illustrates that no buses are exceeding designed capacity limits, and Rigsby urges parents to make the best use of the Chipmunk bus-tracking app. This app is equipped to provide continuous updates about route changes to manage the student load within set capacity limits.
Importance of Bus Drivers
With the ongoing challenge, the school is pushing efforts to address the bus driver shortage by welcoming one and all interested in driving for ACS. The growing student population and their travel needs are now to be balanced and accommodated by recruiting more personnel capable of transporting students daily.
