INDIANAPOLIS — There will be big changes in store for Indianapolis Public School students who ride the bus next year and it's all a part of IPS's rebuilding plan.
Parents and caregivers will need to will need to register students for bus transportation by July 1.
"We would be shifting from automatically assigning all eligible students in the system to a bus to allowing parents an opportunity to choose if they want to ride a yellow bus or not," said Bill Murphy, IPS COO.
The district began having conversations about this last year. Administrators say the change is necessary to include all kids who need it.
Right now, more than 16,000 students in the district have the option for busing. However, IPS administrators learned that not all families are choosing that option. This school year, IPS gave parents a buffer.
"We called everyone as a backup to double check if they wanted transportation,” Murphy said. “This year we are removing that safety net.”
Murphy says there's already a struggle to find bus drivers. The district has nearly 250 drivers are on staff.
"If we don't have parents opting in ,we have them practicing routes that almost immediately start changing at the start of the school year,” said Murphy. “It also means that we don't have an accurate prediction of how many bus drivers we need."
This way, administrators can make sure they're using resources when they need it.
If you do miss that deadline, it doesn't mean your child can't take the bus, but it does mean there would be a delay in the process and you may have to drive them to school in the meantime.
For more information about how to register click here.