Two school districts eye transportation partnership pilot program

Pittsburgh, Woodland Hills aim for efficiency

If the Woodland Hills and Pittsburgh Public Schools districts team up to transport their students who attend the same charter or private school, they could together save up to $80,000 and ease one of their biggest logistical challenges.

Leaders from both districts hope to expand the collaboration if a coming trial partnership is successful.

The Woodland Hills school board approved an agreement at its meeting Wednesday night, pledging to work with the city school district to share bus routes and transportation for some students in each district. Beginning in January, the arrangement would allow a PPS bus to pick up Woodland Hills students, and vice versa. The city school board will vote on the plan at its meeting next week.

Student transportation has long taxed sprawling school systems such as Pittsburgh Public and Woodland Hills that must chart complicated routes to pick up students. State law requires school districts to continue to transport children living within its boundaries if they choose charter, private or parochial schools. Sometimes, the routes of two school districts overlap.

“We believe that there are better ways to do transportation,” said Woodland Hills superintendent Alan Johnson.

Woodland Hills and the city

schools have been in discussions with the nonprofit Allies for Children, the Buhl Foundation and the county Department of Human Services for about a year trying to come up with a way to make student transportation more efficient. If the pilot is successful, leaders hope to expand it to transport students at other schools.

Pam Capretta, Pittsburgh Public’s chief operations officer, said the district identified about 10 schools, including Greater Works Christian School in Monroeville, that draw from both Woodland Hills and PPS.

Both school districts transport several students via South Braddock Avenue to the Propel charter school in Pitcairn, Mr. Johnson said. Propel Braddock Hills, which draws roughly 700 students from the two districts combined, could also be a good candidate.

“The numbers are definitely not large at this point, but that’s OK, because at this point it’s really about proof that the concept can work,” Mr. Johnson said.

A meeting Thursday should iron out the starting routes, Ms, Capretta said.

Woodland Hills spends roughly $7.5 million per year on student transportation, with 120 bus runs to about 90 locations every day. That doesn’t include transportation for homeless students or students with disabilities or other special circumstances, Mr. Johnson said.

Pittsburgh Public’s transportation budget is nearly $21 million for students attending district schools and $6.2 million for those living in the city but choosing to attend a charter, private or parochial school.

Ron Cowell, president of the Harrisburg-based Education Policy and Leadership Center, said with 500 school districts statewide and intermediate unit service providers, each with its own routes, the pilot “makes a whole lot of sense.”

“There’s an awful lot of overlap, and if district and intermediate units can figure out the matter of scheduling, there probably are a lot of financial efficiencies to be realized,” he said.