Showing posts with label Bus Transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bus Transportation. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Proviso School District 209 Begins Busing Program For All Students!!!

Proviso School Board President Emanuel "Chris" Welch and the Proviso School Board announced that Proviso Township High Schools has launched its transportation program!

The program begins at Proviso East on Jan. 20th and at Proviso West on Feb. 17th.

Proviso East parents are encouraged to check the mail for bus route information and to contact the school if bus route information is not received by January 15th.

Students are asked to arrive at their designated bus stop locations five (5) minutes before the scheduled pick-up time in the morning. At the end of the school day (after dismissal) the buses will leave Proviso East at approximately 3:25 p.m.

If you have any questions, please contact Proviso East Principal Mr. Milton Patch at 708-202-1611. Proviso West parents can look for their students' bus route information to be mailed no later than Friday, January 23rd.

La Secundaria Proviso East tiene gusto en informarle que el servicio de transportación empezara el 20 de Enero. Usted recibira por correo información acerca de las rutas del bus escolar, le pedimos que este pendiente. Si usted no recibe esta información antes del 15 de Enero, por favor comuniquese con nosotros.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Proviso School Board Approves District Busing Program To Boost Attendance!!!

Proviso Board President Emanuel "Chris" Welch and the Proviso School Board recently approved a $3.6 million dollar contract with First Student Bus Company to create the first ever district run busing program. The goal of the busing program is to boost attendance by getting kids to school. According to Board President Welch, "PACE has just not serviced us properly."

Proviso East students will be the first to receive free bus transportation to and from school through Proviso High School District 209.

Bus routes and stops are being worked out, but school bus service is scheduled to start Jan. 20, 2009 for Proviso East students. The plan sets Feb. 17, 2009 as the start date for Proviso West bus service.

Service was announced at the Nov. 17 School Board meeting. Trustees approved a transportation contract with First Student for $3.76 million per year for two years. Security cameras for each bus were included in the contract.

The district pursued bus service for nearly all its students after receiving approval July 9 from the Illinois Department of Transportation to classify certain areas around the school district as safety hazards.

That qualified the district for state transportation reimbursement for busing students who live within a 1 1/2-mile radius of the school. Without the safety-hazard waiver, there is no reimbursement of transportation expenses for students within that distance.

The state will cover about 80 percent of the transportation costs, said District 209 Finance and Operations Assistant Superintendent Nikita Johnson. The district is responsible for the remaining costs, which will not be billed to parents, Johnson said.

School officials expect 95 percent of the approximately 5,000 students in the district will be eligible for free transportation, said Proviso East Assistant Principal Dan Johnson, who has been working on the transportation issue.

Prior to the waiver, about 70 percent of students from Proviso West and 45 percent from East were eligible for free transportation, Johnson said.

Bus service was offered a year ago for 400 to 500 Proviso West students who secured seats on eight buses on a first-come, first-served sign-up basis. There was no bus service for Proviso East students.

No bus service is scheduled at this time for the approximately 600 students attending Proviso Mathematics and Science Academy in Forest Park.

"It would be more difficult to start a bus service for those students in the midst of start up for East and West," said TaQuoya Kennedy, spokesperson for District 209. "Logistically, we cannot coordinate that at this time. But it is something that we hope to look at in the future."

There is hope among district administrators that bus service for Proviso East and West will help attendance and reduce truancy.

"This is an effort to improve the quality of life for our students, to ensure that they get to school safely and on time, and ultimately improve (the district's) truancy rates," Nikita Johnson said.

"With district-wide transportation, we eliminate some of the hazards or obstacles that may keep students from getting to school and getting the education they need."