Bus driver shortage, ESOL family struggles stand out at September School Board meeting

Wednesday’s Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) School Board meetings featured budget votes, operations updates, school achievements as well as insights on district policies and initiatives. The public can refer to the Sept. 6 2023 Board Brief for SCCPSS’s overview of the meeting. Among the many highlights were the Fiscal Responsibility and Resource Stewardship reports from all five SCCPSS charter schools during the Informal Session.

After the private Executive Session, the Board returned at 6 p.m. to lead the Regular Board Meeting, which spanned just over three hours.

Bus driver shortage continues to have far-reaching effects in the district

Deputy Superintendent, Chief Operations Officer Vanessa Miller-Kaigler summed up the ongoing transportation struggle facing the district. “We have all the equipment; we just don’t have the people,” she said.

She handed over the Stewardship of Transportation presentation to Lead Director Tammy Perkins, who mentioned the following:

• For school year 2023 the district aimed for 75% on-time arrivals and drop-offs, but the actual rate of on-time arrivals and drop-offs was 52%;

• Report indicated bus driver shortage directly impacted on-time arrivals and continues to do so;

• Approximately 193 drivers available each day to cover 205 routes;

• Data showed that total driver numbers are down more than 100 drivers since 2019.

Earlier on Wednesday, during the Informal Session, Oglethorpe Charter School principal Kevin Wall started out his presentation with enrollment numbers. Oglethorpe is projected to reach its enrollment goal of 600. He did note, however, that some families are choosing to go back to their zoned schools due to transportation struggles.

Savannah Classical Academy CEO Barry Lollis’s presentation showed a student poverty rate of 70%. District 3 Board Member Cornelia Hall asked Lollis about the change of that rate over the last five years.

Lollis stated that the rate had declined. “We had been hovering around the mid-80s, and so 70 is the lowest we have ever been since 2017.” When asked by Hall what Lollis might attribute the poverty rate decline to, Lollis responded, “Part of it is when we lost transportation. That cut out some families.”

“Like my other charter colleagues, we have seen a decline in enrollment due to transportation,” said Susie King Taylor Community School Interim Director Yanis Medina. She stated that without transportation support from the district, some families are forced to make different school choices.

To address the daily shortage challenges for zoned schools, Perkins said the district pulls individuals from other assigned roles, such as mechanics and dispatchers, to operate buses. She asserted that the long-term plan is to recruit additional drivers to eliminate double backs (when one bus travels on the same route twice) and establish a reserve of drivers.

She explained recruitment strategies that range from career fairs with local military bases to a new TV commercial to staff incentives. She stated that some drivers who had previously left the district are now wanting to return. The district has decided to welcome them at the salary which they left. Time will tell if the efforts are enough to turn the tide on what District Four Board Member Shawn Kachmar said is a worrying trend of driver losses. He and other board members agreed that they need to address competition for CDL licensed drivers.

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Groves High School ESOL relocation causes family unrest

Christina Magaña of Migrant Equity Southeast expressed concerns about lack of transparency regarding relocation of 187 Groves High School ESOL students. She claimed that failure to involve parents in district discussions had caused “unrest in the community” over how quickly changes took place. She said that parents deserved more than a 24-hour notice when the district switched a planned in-person meeting with families to a virtual meeting due to Hurricane Idalia.

She also pointed out that during the virtual meeting, district leaders mentioned that planning for expanding ESOL services to all high schools and relocating students had started early last year. She questioned why the information had not been introduced at the beginning of the school year to families. She alleged that at least one of the schools that students were moved to does not have an ESL teacher on staff. Other issues were raised regarding students who are without access to Chromebooks as well as students who were unable to be assigned certain required subject area classes because the classes were full at the schools that students moved to.

Magaña’s points were underscored by a handful of members of the public who asked to speak before the board. Speakers included Fernanda Hernandez, a Groves High School student. She expressed, via a translator, the anxiety she has felt over how quickly changes occurred. She had been transferred from Groves to Jenkins this past week. She also addressed concerns about lack of advanced communication to students or families.

Additionally, a 10-year-old elementary school student spoke at the end of the meeting. She expressed, via a translator, lack of access to ESOL services at her school. She said that she has been in the United States for five months and has struggled to participate in school activities due to lack of ESOL services.

Overall, individuals expressed ongoing concerns about lack of ESOL resources at Board Meetings. For example, the sign-up sheets to speak at SCCPSS Board Meetings are in English. The Board does provide translators upon request.

Board approved $2.7 Million for literacy training suite

The Board took action to support the district’s “North Star” of literacy, as dubbed by Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed.D. According to the Board Brief, “The LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) suite is a comprehensive professional learning designed to provide educators and administrators with deep knowledge in the science of reading.” The approved purchase totaled $2,726,050 from a one-time use of the General Fund balance.

LETRS will be a major part of the “train the trainers” phase of the district’s literacy improvement plan. Deputy Superintendent Bernadette Ball-Oliver said that, “Our administrators and coaches will begin the training first and then our teachers will come online in January.”

Board Members asked questions about academic and planning calendars to make sure the district is not overwhelming elementary teachers with these new trainings in literacy and the new math standards.

Beth Majeroni, retired reading specialist and frequent board meeting attendee, shared her point of view on the purchase. “The number one influencer of improving reading literacy performance is the teachers’ teaching ability. It could even be used as a selling point when recruiting elementary school teachers.”

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at jschwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham County School Board September 2023 meeting recap