Fort Bend ISD Meets Student Transportation Needs Safely and Effectively

Many children are getting left behind amid this unpredictable 2020-2021 school year, and for students with special transportation needs, alternative student transportation is playing a critical role. For McKinney-Vento and special needs students, regular buses either do not visit these students’ neighborhoods on their regular routes or do not have the necessary equipment and tools to get them to school safely. For children who attend school in a different district than they live in, transportation is supposed to be provided through the efforts of both districts. However, when the schools in the separate districts start at the same time, this coordination can become difficult and often impossible.

The Solution

ALC Schools provides school districts with alternative student transportation to alleviate these challenges. This is available through OMNIA Partners to drive cost savings by streamlining the competitive bid process and nationally leveraged pricing through a cooperative contract. ALC provides supplemental student transportation to over 400 school districts across the country. Their two fully staffed dispatch centers, field representatives, and routing and optimization teams coordinate 10,000 trips for special needs, displaced and foster students to get to school safely and on time.

ALC works to ensure that each student in their partnering districts has reliable transportation to get to and from school every day. In addition to transportation, ALC works with school districts with all of their needs related to their most difficult to serve students. Whether students are virtual or in-person, this partnership has helps schools with meal delivery, technology and ensuring the students receive their homework packets.

Fort Bend ISD Story

Stacy Broussard, Routing & Field Supervisor – Transportation of Fort Bend ISD, recently spoke to how their partnership with ALC directly impacts the lives of vulnerable students by meeting their alternative transportation needs. As a partner for over 7 years, Stacy noted that ALC has helped around 140 children in need of special transportation when Fort Bend ISD runs out of manpower. Stacy mentions her favorite part of using ALC, “When I’m in a jam, they are always there to help and it is always pleasant and friendly. They are helping us get the students to and from school.”

Having a student transportation partner not only solves the direct need for alternative transportation for these children, but it also alleviates several struggles that the child would have to endure otherwise. Here is a look into some of the ways ALC positively impacts the Fort Bend ISD students’ lives:

• Consistency
  • Each child has the same driver every day to and from school. This provides a sense of comfort and consistency for children who might be going through difficult times by giving them a friendly face to count on daily.
• Time
  • Students are picked up from their homes and taken directly to school without additional stops. This option gives the children extra time in their mornings to eat a school provided breakfast, see friends, and visit their lockers before the first bell.
• Confidentiality
  • Students feel safe as they are picked up in a private vehicle in the same place as the rest of the children, which in turn gives these students in need a sense of relief and confidence that they might not have otherwise. This process betters McKinney-Vento and special needs students’ overall school experience.

Stacy is passionate about the students in her district and appreciates her partnership with ALC Schools. “When I wake up in the morning and I put my feet on the ground, I want to make sure the kids are taken care of just like they are my own. And I just love that ALC is able to help me help them,” Stacy mentions.

By partnering with ALC Schools through their cooperative contract with OMNIA Partners, school districts and families receive safe, reliable, and high-quality transportation. Because ALC Schools focuses only on special transportation needs, they are able to offer a level of personalized service found nowhere else. Learn more about the ALC cooperative contract with OMNIA Partners here: https://public.omniapartners.com/suppliers/alc-schools/alternative-student-transportation-contract