Howard superintendent says ‘the buses are coming’ on first day of school

Student transportation is among the priorities outlined in a 90-day plan put forward by Bill Barnes when he became permanent superintendent of Howard County’s public school system July 1.

“The goal is to make sure that this first day is much more typical than past first days,” Barnes said.

Barnes has served as acting superintendent since Jan. 10, after previous superintendent Michael Martirano announced his retirement Nov. 17 — despite having almost three years left in a four-year contract.

The beginning of the 2023-2024 school year was plagued with transportation challenges . On Aug. 29, the second day of school, new bus contractor Zum Services canceled 20 of the 230 bus routes it was contracted to service, leaving more than 2,400 students at 34 elementary, middle and high schools without transportation for as long as two weeks in some cases. Martirano indicated that he expected all bus routes to be covered, in a memo to school board members before the school year began, and later called the fiasco a “system failure.”

Barnes said this year will be different because all contractors will complete supervised dry runs of routes, and because the school start times in place, implemented to help remedy last year’s transportation problems, situation, will reliably accommodate the busing schedule. The first day of classes is Aug. 26.

“The first thing I want families to know is that the buses are coming and that kids are getting to school on time,” Barnes said. “The [school] board was very cooperative in terms of not shifting school start times this year. We’re building a plan to look at what that might look like for next year, in addition to expanding walk zones as part of our new policy.”

Barnes meets with the transportation office weekly and has been paying attention to driver vacancies, staffing, and fleet availability, he said.

“There’s a greater focus on planning, being strategic about our planning, and putting down in writing what we intend to do,” Barnes said, “setting those goals out, and then monitoring progress towards those goals. … Our students deserve for us to be very strategic in our actions.”

The transportation plan is to test routes to ensure viability and accuracy, engage contractors to plan and test routes, and assess and evaluate driver availability to anticipate any shortages, according to the document.

An external review of student transportation in the Howard County Public School System, including an analysis of what caused a system failure on the first day of last school year, has also been completed, Barnes said.

“We’re ahead of schedule from last year,” Barnes said, “so I’m optimistic. We’re still experiencing the post-traumatic stress from that failure last year, so until buses are out, I have the confidence that we’re within a normal level of disruption— the first two weeks of schools are always challenging with transportation.”

Barnes said he has set expectations for Zum Services, and the transportation office team has spent several days working with Zum leadership to build communication, align systems, and stress test details.

Zum Services is a California-based bus company that contracted with Howard schools for the first time last year and was charged with providing transportation on more of the county’s 503 routes than any other bus contractor.

“The expectation is that every contractor delivers on their promise,” Barnes said.

Other priorities in the superintendent’s 90-day plan include the budget, human resources, learning, strategic vision, implementing the multibillion-dollar Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform legislation, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Barnes also laid plans to reorganize the school system’s leadership ahead of the new school year, which he said is mostly complete.

The first 90 days will rapidly accelerate efforts t to improve in priority areas and will conclude with a comprehensive update that will be made public, according to the plan. The 90-day plan is the first of many, Barnes said.