D.C. has launched a new digital tool for parents of students who ride city school buses to class, as part of a plan to prevent issues in transportation.
The new Parent Portal launched Monday for parents of kids who are eligible for transportation to school based on their individualized education program. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education said over 5,000 students meet that criteria.
Before the portal, parents had to contact their child’s school and provide pickup and drop-off information. The school would also contact families over the summer to determine whether there were changes for the upcoming school year. But now, parents can provide that information directly, largely removing the back-and-forth with schools from the process.
For years, families of students with disabilities have said buses don’t provide proper accommodations, can’t be reliably tracked, and show up late — or not at all. Some have filed lawsuits.
“It’s really important to go to the source, which is the parent, as opposed to going through a mediator (who) may not have gotten the address just right from what they have heard over the phone or what they saw on an enrollment form,” said Stephanie Davis, OSSE’s chief information officer.
The new digital process takes about three to five minutes, Davis said. The city needs to know the name of the school the student will attend, and the pickup and drop-off addresses. Using the portal, parents can select either OSSE transportation, a $400 monthly stiped to self-transport kids or to opt out of transportation services altogether.
Parents should look for “an ease in transportation this year, because we got the starting information from them, and there should not be any discrepancy in where we’re picking up and dropping off the student,” Davis said.
The portal will be monitored daily, Davis said, so if a family changes pickup or drop-off locations, the family can update those changes directly. Local schools still have to confirm the accommodations a child may need on the bus, Davis said.
“It is a really simple process now, as opposed to a lot of the back and forth and waiting on phone calls and return calls from parents,” Davis said.
Shortly after the portal opened Monday afternoon, there were already 180 submissions, Davis said.
“It is a big change, and I think it’s for the better good here in the District on how we actually manage and push transportation forward,” Davis said.
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