November 19: Transportation Update for Robbinsdale Area Schools

The families who opted out of district bus transportation for the remainder of the school year have helped our busing situation. We have been able to reroute some buses to provide transportation to more of the students who have not yet had busing this year.

The good news is – beginning Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 – we will be able to transport about 430 students who have not had an active bus route to and from school.

When the new bus routes are finalized, we will send new transportation postcards to your address on record. We will also update your student’s busing information in Infinite Campus during winter break.

The not-so-good news is we are still experiencing a bus driver shortage, so not every postponed route will be reinstated.

Since the beginning of the school year, we have: 

• Hired and trained new drivers, but the net gain in drivers has been small because as we hire new drivers, others have left.

• Signed new contracts to help with this issue. 

In the last month:

• Signed a new contract with Minneapolis-based Garner Transportation. This has allowed us to activate three routes that were previously postponed and provide transportation to more than 340 students.

• We have also contracted with a local vendor, Mainline Transportation (MTI) of Plymouth, to help get students to and from school activities and field trips.

We continue to contract with four contractors that use passenger vans to transport both students who receive special education and general education students with extraordinary circumstances.

Unfortunately, we will still have students who do not have bus transportation to and from school. Additionally, we have so few substitute drivers that routes may still be canceled if drivers call out of work. Please make sure your infinite campus contact and notification preferences are up to date and turned on.

Please watch for more information about new bus routes in the coming weeks. Thank you for your flexibility, patience and understanding as we work to find solutions to the ongoing bus driver shortage.