Jefferson County Public Schc;olS

Shaping the Future

Administrative Offices
VanHoose Education Center P.O. Box 34020 Louisville, KY 40232-4020 (502) 485-3011

To: From: Subject: Date:

Jefferson County Board of Education Members Sheldon H. Berman and the Student Assignment Core Planning Team Student Assignment and Transportation Improvements for the 2011-12 School Year April 20, 2011

Following is a summary of our efforts to date to implement the new middle school boundaries and to improve transportation for the upcoming school year, with an emphasis on the elementary schools. Also enclosed is a folder of materials that is being given to every elementary principal to facilitate implementation and monitoring of the procedures for next school year.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL BOUNDARIES

The new boundaries have been implemented system-wide. Middle schools are working with the Central Office and families to finalize enrollments. Schools can generate Gain/Loss Lists and Enrollment Summary Reports to see current enrollment numbers. These reports can be run each week to reflect changing enrollments due to newly approved applications or families who move to a new resides school. Additionally, a middle school logistical committee comprising several principals has been formed and is chaired by Steve St. Clair. The purpose is to ensure that systems are in place at all middle schools on the first few days of school. Committee members have begun to gather input from all middle school principals and will incorporate that information into their planning and preparation.
IMPROVING ELEMENTARY TRANSPORTATION

A work team was assembled to refine the transportation system for the first day of the 2011-12 school year. The team consisted of elementary principals and district-level staff from the following departments: Transportation, Elementary Instruction, Communications, ESL, Infinite Campus, and Student Assignment. The team identified a need to communicate task requirements and timelines more effectively to the schools. The Central Office team members worked collaboratively with principals to develop a system that provides accurate information to schools much earlier than in the past. This system will make it more efficient to enter bus stop data and to tag students. Following is a summary ohhe key components of the plan.

Welcome Letters
On April 28, 2011, a letter will be sent to every incoming kindergarten student and to every first-grade student to notify the family of the student's school assignment for the 2011-12 school year. To ensure consistency of information going to families, the letters will be printed directly from the Infinite Campus database.

Transportation In/ormation Forms/Family Communications Returning students who are now in grades K-4 will take home a Transportation In/ormation Form (yellow) that requires families to provide bus information for the 2011-12 school year.

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Upon receipt of this information, schools will immediately begin entering bus stops into Infinite Campus. This revision allows school staff to enter information much earlier than last yeaL During the first week of May, Early Childhood staff will provide all current students in the JCPS four-yearold program a TrrrJllsporrtatiolf'd Information Form (lavender). The Transportation Department will develop an Excel spreadsheet with bus information for incoming kindergarteners and will forward it to schools by mid-June. Upon receipt of this information, schools will begin entering bus stops into Infinite Campus. This change allows school staff to enter information much earlier than last year. Families of students new to a school who have registered for grades K-S will receive a Tn:msportation In/ormation Form (salmclD''B) in the mail in JUly. The form requires families to provide bus information for the 201.1-12 school year. Families in need of help will be directed to call the assigned school, the number for which will be listed in the letter. In mid-July, a letter will go to all families that returned either a yellow or lavender card, confirming the child's afternoon transportation plan. If the Infinite Campus information is incorrect, it is the family's responsibility to contact the school immediately to make necessary corrections. The family of every kindergarten student and of every first-grade student will be mailed a sticker with the name of the assigned school (similar to a "Hello ... My name is" nametag). It will be the responsibility of the family to put the sticker on their child the first day of school as a quick and easy confirmation of the child's school destination. Schools are expected to create filing systems for all returned forms and for ali documentation of communication with families.

English as a Second language Students (fSlj/Family Communications e Every new ESl student will receive a sticker with the name of the assigned school (similar to a "Hello ... My name is" nametag). it will be the responsibility of the family to put the sticker on their child the first day of school as a quick and easy confirmation of the child's school destination. e The ESl Department will meet with each incoming/transferring ELL family to assist them in completing the Transportationlnjormation Form (salmon). All letters and cards have translations available. s ESl resource teachers wHI be assigned to depots to support students during the first several days of school. Tagging Students The work team recommended that student tagging be handled through the llse of luggage tags placed on backpacks (rather than lanyards on the students). Every elementary bus rider will receive a tag. Students will be directed to leave the tags on their backpacks so that the tagging information remains intact. " There will be a renewed effort (e.g., by Family Resource Center staff and community agencies) to ensure that each student has a backpack. If a child arrives at school on the first day without a backpack, bus information lanyards will be used on a temporary basis. 9 The student's name and afternoon bus stop will be printed on a sticker affixed to the luggage tag. To protect family privacy, telephone numbers will not be included on the stickers. For emergency situations, telephone numbers will be available through Infinite Campus .. Resource teachers will be assigned to depots during the first week to assist with checking tags and guiding children to the correct buses. Transportation Department Support The Transportation Department modified Bus Finder to make it user-friendly for both families and staff. Previously, Bus Finder required the user to know the neighborhood. This year's system will provide a map, based on the home address, and will identify the bus stops closest to home. Last year, schools experienced difficulty communicating with bus compounds to locate bus stops. This year, schools will use an instant messaging (1M) feature on Skype. Schools will simply 1M the address to the compound and the compound will respond with the bus stop. e During the principal training sessions in April, principals submitted the names of their staff members identified for the Skype teams.

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April 20, 2011 During the month of May, staff from the Infinite Campus Department will install Skype software on the computers of all identified Skype team members. On June 6, all elementary schools wi!! participate in a Skype drill. These drills will be repeated five times before the opening of school (.July 13, July 20, July 21, August 3, and August 10). In August, the Transportation Department will facilitate a training session for those resource teachers, including ESL resource teachers, who will be supporting depots during the first week of school.

Training and Monitoring Meetings were conducted with principals and district staff during the week of April 11 to communicate transportation-related expectations and to provide additional opportunities for feedback and questions. Additional support/information sessions with principals will be facilitated during the months of May, July, and August. Members of the Transportation Department will continue to facilitate sessions during principal meetings to ensure clear, ongoing communication. Principals will be given a checklist of specific tasks to be completed by specific deadlines. Once the expectations on the checklist are met, the signed form will be submitted to the Elementary Office. A new system has been established in Infinite Campus to monitor the entering of bus stop data by local school staff. If a school needs assistance, this need can be discovered early so that district-level staff can provide support. This intervention will prevent schools from being overwhelmed on the first day. Communications e The Communications Department is sending out information in a variety of formats (e.g., radio, parent newsletters, displays at community centers and at the L&N Building) to make families and other community members aware ofthe importance of their role as our partners in getting pertinent information to every child's school.
IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS

The Transportation Department has been integrally involved in designing the changes involving Bus Finder, Skype, tagging of students, and first-day emergency plans. Other modifications and improvements are described below. Bus Finder Enhancements e The Transportation Department has been working with the Information Technology Department and an outside consultant (U.S. Computing, Inc.) to enhance Bus Finder so it is more customer-friendly for both families and school staff. Families will actually be able to see a Google map of the three bus stops closest to their home so they can more easily determine the best stop for their child. Transportation Information in Infinite Campus 8 Once identified by the schools and families, all pertinent bus information for each bus rider will be recorded in Infinite Campus on a transportation tab. Fields have been added to the tab to improve data entry, tracking, and reporting. A re-designed tab is being implemented to reduce data entry errors and improve timeliness. In addition, a nightly interface will occur between the transportation system and Infinite Campus to better synchronize the two systems and ensure that schools enter the correct bus stops. Operational Improvements In addition to working with the elementary transportation work team, the Transportation Department will be meeting with high school and middle school principals to facilitate a timely dismissal on the first day of school. Principal input will be incorporated in creating guidelines that will be used by all schools. Communication with families, principals, and the community on the first day of school is a top priority of the Transportation Department. Transportation staff will continue to conduct weekly staff meetings focused on strategies for reducing ride time and removing more students from the depot process. For example, we currently have two

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elementary depots that are too large. These depots will be converted to a magnet depot and a cluster depot-both of which will be smaller in size-thereby reducing ride time and enhancing efficiency. The Transportation Department has been piloting two GPS systems designed to improve bus operations. Unfortunately, there is not a GPS system on the State bid list that meets our needs, so an RFP must be developed. The Transportation Department is planning one more day of inservice with bus drivers prior to the start of the school year. In order to do this, a Gold Day slated for October was moved to a few days prior to the beginning of school. This change will allow new guidelines and procedures to be communicated as close as possible to the start of live operations. Within the Transportation Department, district-level staff members are being trained to assist at the depots. This staffing will free up drivers, who can in turn be deployed to buses to address any emergencies during the first few days of school. Additionaliy, all compounds will be supplied with a printout of students by school; the printout will be a back-up source of information in the unlikely event the server goes down. The Skype communications protocol should improve communication between schools and compounds for the purpose of identifying student bus assignments and bus stops on the first day of school. Installation of the new radio system approved by the Board is underway. The system should be fully operational by August 1, 2011, and will greatly improve both communications and safety.

SHB:Core Team:jb Enclosure