North Allegheny works to find replacement bus contractors after vendor suddenly cancels contract

The North Allegheny School District is bringing in more staff, searching for contractors and introducing a new mobile tracking app that may help address some problems that led to an abrupt cancellation of bus transportation for private and parochial students during the first week of school.

NA officials said a third-party contractor who buses those students unexpectedly ceased operations and canceled its contract, leaving the school district scrambling to find a replacement just as school was about to start.

The district reached out to 11 other contractors, said Mark Trichtinger, North Allegheny’s director of operations.

“Unfortunately, the ongoing shortage of bus drivers has proved to be a significant obstacle in securing a replacement,” he said. “We recognize this is unacceptable and are steadfastly working to resolve this matter. Additionally, we are reviewing all North Allegheny bus routes to explore ways our drivers can take on additional students and stops.”

NA was able to restore bus service to two local parochial schools: Holy Cross Academy in Ross Township and Aquinas Academy in Hampton.

Holy Cross was restored Aug. 28. Families of Aquinas Academy were notified on Aug. 30, that the district reached an agreement with a third-party vendor to begin transporting students on Sept. 5, according to Leslie Mitros, head of school at Aquinas.

Mitros said North Allegheny has an obligation to provide busing for all school-age residents of the school district who attend any school, public, parochial, or private, within 10 miles of the district border.

The loss of transportation was “a hardship for many of our families” and “discriminatory against those schools that they have decided not to transport.”

The North Allegheny School District covers 48 square miles. The district transports 8,500 students to North Allegheny schools each school day and also is responsible for transporting more than 1,000 students who live in the district to more than 30 public, private, and parochial schools outside it.

The NA transportation department has a team of about 100 employees and 15 contractors to assist in transport.

NA offered parents of students affected by the busing situation reimbursement for transporting their children at the IRS rate of 65.5 cents a mile.

Mandy Kulifay of McCandless, who has two children at Holy Cross Academy, said the family received an email on Aug. 23 — the day before school was to start — from the North Allegheny transportation office that busing would not be provided. NA offered reimbursement for Holy Cross parents affected, she said.

Mitros said the reimbursement was not a solution for working parents who can’t pick up their children at the end of the day. The busing problem affected parents of 70 Aquinas students who reside in North Allegheny.

Mary Katherine Fisher, of McCandless, has a daughter entering kindergarten this year at Aquinas Academy. She said the experience caused ‘extreme stress both (in scheduling) and financial that shouldn’t be happening.”

She said even though parents were offered reimbursement, it wasn’t financially beneficial for those who had to get child care or leave work to pick up children.

Mitros recognized the shortage of bus drivers, but said busing is legislated to be provided to Aquinas students under Pennsylvania law.

While NA did get busing for Holy Cross, a few stops were missed the first morning.

“Our team has worked to resolve the matter and is hopeful transportation will be back on track moving forward,” said Trichtinger.

The district received so many calls, emails and questions on its BusHelp website, that additional staff have been brought in to help the transportation department, Trichtinger said.

North Allegheny also consulted a former NA director of transportation to provide guidance. Additionally, the district is working on incentives to hire new bus drivers, he said.

If a problem develops, parents or guardians of students transported by a third-party contractor should reach out to that vendor as a first point of contact, he said.

Some factors that may impact scheduling or time spent on the bus are students who may have different bus stops in the morning than they do in the afternoon due to childcare. Some students may have a different schedule from day to day or week to week. Drivers may experience routes with higher levels of traffic during the day. The enrollment of new students could impact an established route.

This year, the District began using a new tool through Tyler Technologies that assists with routing, boundary planning, and mapping.

Trichtinger said the district is introducing a new mobile app to help track buses.

“In the upcoming months, the district will debut the Traversa Ride 360 mobile app for parents and/or guardians. The app provides secure access to student routing information, as well as the current bus location and planned bus paths. Ride 360 provides quick access to student’s routing information, which can include the bus stop, route, driver, and bus number,” he said.

The technology was added to North Allegheny buses this summer and is in testing. Families will be notified when the app is available.

The North Allegheny School District is actively recruiting bus drivers. The District will host open house events at the Transportation Department Office, 400 Hillvue Lane, on Sept. 13, and Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Interested individuals should visit: https://www.northallegheny.org/busdrivers.