Effectiveness for Different Ages and Locations Sample Clauses

Effectiveness for Different Ages and Locations. Did some modes prove more effective for different age groups and geographies? The consensus was that elementary school students were best served by school buses, vans and private vehicles using gas vouchers, and not by public transit or taxis. Secondary school students, especially high school students, were provided public transit tokens/vouchers and gas vouchers (in instances where they could drive and had access to a private car). Small buses were more of an embarrassment to older students while often preferred by very young students. Some coordinators reported that arriving at school by taxi would also call attention to the student being “different”, also a source of discomfort. Some coordinators made an effort to de-stigmatize students living in homeless shelters by routing buses to pick them up first and drop them off last so other students would not know where they got on and off. In selected urban and suburban areas, public transit worked very well. In rural areas public transit was usually not an option. School districts transporting students in rural areas often had long distances to cover and routing a school bus to serve one or two students was logistically difficult and quite costly. Taxi, private auto, and shared school bus routes were employed to deal with longer trips and those that crossed school district boundaries. Several districts worked cooperatively by splitting responsibility for arrival and return transport or by scheduling and routing for transfer points between two school district’s buses. One district identifies part-time para-professionals who would like to work more hours, puts them through bus driver screening and training, and then assigns them to transport homeless students in district owned cars and vans. This arrangement provides great flexibility, responsiveness and reliability at costs below adding school bus routes (and is allowable under union rules in the district).