Brevard school buses ready to roll: Here's who's riding them, driving them and more
When school kicks off on Monday in Brevard County, the first faces to greet many kids will be those of bus drivers.
About 27% of the 74,300-plus students in Brevard Public Schools are expected to take the bus to school this year, said Michael Miller, director of transportation for the district. There are a few hundred buses to carry them, and more than 200 routes to get them to their destination.
Here's everything you need to know about bus routes, safety and more.
How many buses and routes run in the district?
There are 319 active buses utilized by four areas throughout Brevard County, and 240 active routes in those areas.
Who's riding Brevard school buses?
Roughly, 20,000 Brevard County students could potentially utilize BPS transportation services, said Miller.
"However, last year roughly 15,000 BPS students were transported daily, Monday through Friday to a BPS learning facility," he said.
Where can parents check on bus schedules?
During the school year BPS transportation services are open from 6 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. at any of transportation's four operational areas. This information can be found on the Brevard Public Schools website: brevardschools.org/o/bps/page/transportation. From there parents can get all the information they need, from bus ridership information to area contact numbers how to use the ReaXium student tracker application, Miller said.
How many drivers does BPS employ?
As of Aug. 9: 279. Due to the Brevard Public Schools board raising annual salaries for drivers, the longstanding driver shortage in Brevard "is diminishing at a rapid pace," Miller said. That's led to the removal of double and triple back routes, which has improved on-time arrivals to primary schools.
"Currently, we are still looking to fill driver positions with a starting pay of $20," said Miller. "Transportation has a CDL (commercial driver's license) training facility. Prior to employment as a driver, they must have their DHSMV CDL learner's permit in General CDL, Air Brakes, Passenger and School Bus and in addition, a medical card from a licensed physician.
Transportation also is "desperately in need of eight automotive technicians to work at any of our four school bus and vehicle repair facilities," Miller said. Starting pay for technicians is $19.46 as a baseline. Technicians' pay will increase into the mid-$20 range with years of experience. Technicians can work overtime to repair the fleet, as needed, for additional pay. Technicians must obtain a CDL and are provided Florida Department of Education state level training/ certification to inspect school buses. ASE and FAPT, MRT, VST and PRT certification will net the technicians a 5% salary increase if the certification is active.
"All other training is on the job to meet the expectations of the fleet supervisors," said Miller.
How is security handled on BPS buses?
Transportation uses the ReaXium GPS student tracking system, which the district began using in 2022. By tracking student riders, ReaXium eliminates the need for staff to manually create rosters and allows students to scan a badge when they get on or off the bus.
Parents can access the MyReaXium Parent Application found in Apple/ Android app stores. Parents or guardians can open the application and use their ReaXium assigned verification code via their email sent by ReaXium or tap the blue box in the upper right corner of the application, “Get Support," Miller said.
"The system works extremely well and ReaXium has the best customer service in the industry when it comes to student tracking system," he said.
The entire BPS transportation fleet is equipped with internal and external cameras on buses.
"The cameras play a vital role in capturing student behaviors and other infractions that might occur on or around the school’s bus," Miller said. "In addition, some route buses have school instructional assistants to help with students who have IEPs set forth by our BPS IEP team."
Overall, how is behavior?
The BPS discipline process has changed for the better, Miller said. A major update last year now allows bus drivers to write discipline referrals themselves, and requires that they do it within 24 hours of the incident.
"Now our drivers turn in bus referrals to their transportation supervisor, who in return enters the referral into FOCUS," he said, referring to the student information system portal that allows parents access to grades, class schedules and more.
"Due to the disciplinary process enhancement, transportation bus drivers have felt more empowered knowing they can help highlight student negative behavior and see the school’s disciplinary outcome. The transportation team meets monthly with the district student services team to look at the latest discipline data to identify trends and discuss ways to deal with specific behaviors."
Rules of the road everyone should know
Miller advises that anyone behind the wheel should drive in accordance with state statutes found in the 316 Uniform Traffic Control. The statute to be familiar with is Florida State Statute 316.172. It covers issues such as approaching a school bus which displays a stop signal. In that case, bring the vehicle to a full stop while the bus is stopped, and do not pass the bus until the signal has been withdrawn, the law states.
Know this: "When following a school bus always maintain a proper following distance because our school buses make frequent stops," Miller said.
"Always drive slowly when you know you are approaching a well-known school bus stop because if a student happens to not be paying attention to traffic, you as the other driver while on alert can be the difference."
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at [email protected]. X: @_inchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard school buses ready for 'roll call' as new school year begins
