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Denver Public Schools
Opt for Public Transit

Denver superintendent looks to transportation to address adolescent sleep patterns

By Bill Paul
Editor & Publisher

Starting this fall, some high school students attending Denver Public Schools (DPS) will no longer ride on yellow school buses.

In mid-March the Denver school board voted unanimously to shift portions of its high school transportation needs to the Denver Regional Transportation District.

The board also voted to purchase bus passes for eligible students. Costs to the district for RTD passes are estimated to be $19 per month per eligible student, or about $58,000 monthly. "The district will provide passes for every student who is eligible," said Phil Bowser, DPS transportation operations manager.

DPS Superintendent Dr. Jerry Wartgow proposed and shepherded the transportation idea to fruition following several national studies of high school student's sleep patterns in which researchers found that high schoolers who do not get adequate sleep don't perform as well in school.

A highly regarded and innovative educator, Wartgow's stated goals for the district include improving the performance of all students, closing the gap between better and poorer performing students, and setting high expectations for everyone involved in the education process. "The transportation program was developed as a method to improve the education of the children," said Guy Champlin, executive director of the DPS transportation department. "It was not done as a budget cut, but to improve the educational opportunities of the kids and their achievements."

"What we are finding in high schools throughout the country is that this is a changing world," said Wartgow. "High school students are working, attending college courses and providing childcare in addition to going to school. We'll be better able to meet individual needs."

Wayne Eckerling, Assistant Superintendent, added, "It makes a lot of sense to move away from a single transportation system" and to free high schools so they can provide more program flexibility.

Fleets and Routes

There are 17,500 students who attend area high schools; 2,400 monthly bus passes are sold to high school students, and 1,300 monthly bus passes are sold to middle school students. An estimated 3,000 students will be eligible for the new program, though only about half (1,600 students) use the DPS fleet to reach school.

Currently DPS has a fleet of 490 yellow buses with 410 in regular route service. It transports about 3,500 students daily and services 140 school sites throughout the district. Bowser estimates the district will be able to reduce the size of its fleet once the program is in place.

Meanwhile the RTD operates 970 buses, 49 light rail cars, and provides about 250,000 unlinked passenger trips daily. The high school transportation program "won't be much of an addition for us," said Jeff Becker. "We already provide transportation for a substantial number of students."

RTD anticipates that 21 additional bus routes, but no new buses, will need to be added to existing morning and afternoon routes to accommodate increased ridership by high school students.

These new routes will not be exclusive school trips or tripper routes in violation of federal law, according to the RTD, but remain open to full public access.

RTD transportation passes will be offered to eligible students who attend their neighborhood school and reside more than 3.5 miles from the school. It will also be available to students attending district magnet schools. Such transportation is currently provided using DPS school buses.

DPS estimates the move will save the school district nearly three-quarters of a million dollars per year in reduced operating expenses, according to Champlin.
Meanwhile, RTD initially estimated the annual cost for the added high school service would be slightly over $300,000, "But it now looks like it will probably be somewhat less than that," said Becker.

Yellow Bus Service
DPS buses will continue to provide transportation for all special needs students, including those attending center-based special education programs and other students whose IEPs or 504 plan requires transportation. The district will also provide all transportation for high school athletic events, and continue to provide transportation for elementary and middle school students, who meet eligibility requirements, and other eligible magnet program students.

To assuage parent concerns, RTD assured school officials that it has a strong security program in place. "Our security division is staffed by full-time security specialists, and both uniformed and undercover security and police offices periodically patrol transit stations, buses and light rail trains," said an agency spokesperson. In addition all buses and trains are equipped with two-way radios, emergency signaling systems, five extinguishers, and Automatic Vehicle Locators. Many of the RTD buses are equipped with video surveillance cameras.

In an accompanying move, the board voted to allow flexible bell times. "Originally we looked at a 9 a.m. bell time," said Champlin. "But as we got into it we concluded a one-size-fits-all approach wouldn't work. So we changed."

Our school districts are "almost a college atmosphere," he said. "So now we will allow the students to tailor their educational program to fit their needs. For example, if a student has an afternoon job they can start earlier in the day, as can athletes. Some of our students will start their school day at 7:30 a.m. , others at 8:15 a.m. and others at 9:00 a.m. It all depends on the need of the student." Under the plan, elementary and middle school bell times were revised to begin at 7:25 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.

The 3,000 transportation-eligible students will be able to use their bus passes on both the RTD bus and rail systems and in the evenings and on weekends without additional cost.