How schools configure bus routes

Jan. 19—A series of colorful lines crisscross the dry-erase board map inside Barrett Bates' office at Western School Corporation.

The lines follow roads in and around Russiaville and Kokomo. Each one is labeled with a number, seemingly at random.

It might look like a mess to the untrained eye, but to those in the know the winding lines make sense.

They're Western's bus routes and bus numbers.

As assistant superintendent and transportation director, Bates oversees bus routes, who drives them and any changes during the year.

Handy software programs make configuring bus routes easier. Western uses a program that creates bus routes using school district boundaries, where students live, number of buses and the number of seats on each bus.

Three young students can fit in a bus seat but not three high schoolers. So, while a bus might fit 84 passengers, it's probably transporting closer to 60 students.

This is an important factor to consider. No high schooler wants to be cramped, especially first thing in the morning.

Western tries to limit how long students spend on a bus, usually no longer than an hour. This can be factored into the software program.

However, technology isn't perfect. Sometimes a suggested route has a bus going through a field. A human element is needed for adjustments.

Getting picked up outside your home in the morning isn't a reality for a lot of students. Schools like Western pick up many kids in clusters, at one specific pick-up point. Just seven stops might fill a bus.

This might be a church — like Chapel Hill Christian Church or Crossroads Community Church — or a designated location in a subdivision like in Webster Crossing.

This saves time, ensuring students don't spend too much time on the bus.

"Our district is growing at such a fast pace that the days of picking you up at your door are quickly fading," Bates said.

Most students are picked up on the right-hand side of the road. Called door-side pickup, this eliminates students crossing the street.

Indiana law prevents students from crossing U.S. or state routes outside of city limits to board a bus, unless no safer alternatives are available.

It takes school board approval to allow for students to cross a U.S. or state route when no other option is available.

The law was in response to the deaths of three children in Fulton County in 2018, who were struck and killed by a driver who failed to stop for a school bus. The children were crossing the road.

The law does not apply within city limits. Western is not required to do so on the section of Indiana 26 that runs through Russiaville, for example. This is due to the reduced speed limit in town.

For non-state and U.S. routes, door-side pick up is a best practice, but it's one schools follow whenever possible.

"By rule of thumb, we try to pick up door side," Bates said.

This includes rural country roads. Leslie Alexander, transportation director and bus driver for Eastern Howard School Corporation, said bus drivers will turn around so students don't have to cross the road.

Bus routes at Eastern are done by hand. It's the luxury of having a seasoned crop of bus drivers. Alexander gives her drivers the freedom to come up with the route that works best for them. When new students move into the district, drivers work them into their routes, no computer necessary.

"Most drivers know their routes year after year," Alexander said. "They know their area and they know what's going to work best for them."

Eastern being a smaller district allows for most students to get picked up at their homes. This isn't universal, though. Some students who live in a subdivision might have to walk to a corner if a school bus can't fit in a cul-de-sac.

In-district students at Eastern and Western are guaranteed transportation to school. Busing for out-of-district students depends on available bus space.

Out-of-district Eastern parents can request transportation and choose their pick-up spot. Eastern has six locations where it picks up transfer students. These include Grace Community Foursquare Church, Morning Star Church and First Church of the Nazarene.

Alexander said churches are a popular choice for pick up because they have parking lots and are not busy weekday mornings and afternoons.

If space is available, Eastern works those students in. If not, the school district checks other pick-up locations. If all else fails, they go on a wait list.

About 42% of Eastern students are from out of district.

Western has two pick-up locations for transfer students, space dependent.

Bus routes are never fixed. The ebb and flow of students requires people like Alexander and Bates to adjust routes. Road construction can too.

Bates said state and county officials will reach out to Western if a road is will be closed. This happened last fall when part of Ind. 26 was closed to install a stoplight at the Park Road intersection.

Eastern had children walk one block north or south of Indiana 22 in Greentown while construction was ongoing.

Tri-Central Community Schools Transportation Director Jeff Franklin did not respond to interview requests.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.