INDIANAPOLIS — Transportation changes are coming to Indianapolis Public Schools, and the district needs to hear from parents. If your kids need bus service, you'll have to request it before the school year starts through the district’s opt-in policy.
“The bus picks them up from the daycare in the mornings and drops them off in the afternoon, and it's really helpful for me,” said Meshia Hayes.
Like thousands of other parents Hayes is an IPS mom who relies on busing to get her two oldest kids to and from school.
This year her daughter goes to a new school miles away from her house.
“My daughter is actually going to Sidener Academy, which is a school that's a little bit further away,” Hayes said. “Usually that bus ride takes about an hour from that school to our home.
IPS hopes to change this with their new opt-in policy.
They announced the shift last year to help prepare families.
The change requires families to ask for bus service by July 1, or their kids won't get assigned a route ahead of next school year.
“We have historically assigned transportation to every child in the district who qualifies,” said Dr. William Murphy, the Chief Operations Officer for the district.
Dr. Murphy says IPS typically routes between 19,000-20,000 students, but not all of them require bus services.
"We were routing 3,000 more students than was necessary,” Murphy said.
As the district shifts to the zones model under the Rebuilding Stronger Plan, Murphy anticipates more families will need transportation services next year.
They estimate that number will rise to around 17,000 students.
"We know that there are a number of families who are going to need transportation to a new school in their zone,“ said Dr. Murphy. “Or families who are going to be able to take advantage of the one year reprieve where if you have transportation now, even if you no longer qualify, we will give it to you for one more year."
With IPS now fully staffed up on drivers and attendants, the goal of the new Opt-in Policy is to improve routes, cost efficiency and cut down time kids on are the bus.
Again, that has to be done by July 1 to get a route before the 2024-2025 school year.
If you miss the deadline, the district said it could take months for them to route kids and there is no guarantee they will be able to get bus service for the start of the first day of school.
IPS says they’re reaching out to families to inform them about the new opt-in policy change ahead of the deadline.
The district said there will be exceptions to the deadline depending on the circumstances.
They also encourage parents to reach out to their school or call the district if they have questions.
Visit their website to learn more about IPS Transportation.
