ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown School District is preparing for a transportation overhaul in the coming months with a new bus contractor and expanded services for both ASD and charter school students.
Student Transportation of America will take over as the district’s transportation provider July 1, starting a five-year contract that will cost the district nearly $60 million.
“Even though we’re known as a walking district, [ASD provides] a significant amount of transportation for your students.”ASD Transportation Director Andrew Krahulik-Knapp
There will be a transportation forum for community members to learn more about STA and other ASD transportation improvements 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Hays Elementary School.
“Even though we’re known as a walking district, you provide a significant amount of transportation for your students,” ASD Transportation Director Andrew Krahulik-Knapp told the school board Thursday.
STA takes over
During the 2023-24 school year, First Student, the district’s current transportation contractor, provided transportation for 2,500 ASD students, 2,800 charter school students and 160 parochial school students.
School directors regularly complained about the quality of service offered by First Student before opting to let its contract expire and work with STA instead.
This month, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification was issued by First Student for its Allentown facility at 1812 S.12th St. A WARN notice is issued in advance of plant closings or mass layoffs.
The WARN notice for First Student’s Allentown facility affects 173 workers and goes into effect June 30, the last day of First Student’s contract with ASD.
The district anticipates a smooth transition from First Student to STA because both companies work with the same parent labor union.Allentown School District news release
The district anticipates a smooth transition from First Student to STA because both companies work with the same parent labor union, according to a previous ASD news release.
Krahulik-Knapp said Thursday that STA held a mass hiring event and 139 First Student bus drivers and monitors applied to continue working with the district through STA.
Additionally, STA will host a job fair June 11 and 12 at the Four Points by Sheraton Allentown Lehigh Valley, according to a STA spokesperson. There will be two sessions, one at 10 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. on both days.
STA is seeking candidates with a commercial driver's license. STA also offers paid training for eligible candidates to receive their CDL in four to six weeks.
With the new contract also comes 119 new STA vehicles, which offer multiple safety features.
All buses will have four cameras, intercom systems and top strobe lights for visibility in bad weather. Vans will have one camera with two angles.
Vehicles that service special education students will have air conditioning and three-point seatbelts. All vehicles will have two-way radios, GPS systems and alarms to make sure students exit each vehicle at the end of a trip.
Vehicles also will display “Allentown School District” on the exterior.
A spokesperson for STA provided the following statement Friday: "Student Transportation of America (STA) is looking forward to its new partnership with the Allentown School District. We will be working closely with the District to optimize student routes for the 2024-2025 school year."
Transportation routing updates
ASD will also make changes to its internal transportation processes and systems for next school year.
Krahulik-Knapp referenced the findings of an independent transportation study conducted by Edulog that found ASD’s current routing model is under stress.
"Currently, most runs do not have enough travel time built in, which is why you have late buses.”Allentown School District Transportation Director Andrew Krahulik-Knapp
“Adding or changing the current model is not a straightforward approach,” Krahulik-Knapp said. “Any change in the program needs to be implemented over time in order to carefully study the impacts on the routes.
"Currently, most runs do not have enough travel time built in, which is why you have late buses.”
Routing will be done in-house starting next year by Krahulik-Knapp’s department.
As part of a new 2024-25 elementary pilot program, all elementary school bell schedules will be adjusted to start 15 minutes later. This will allow time for buses to pick up students from two schools instead of one on a given run.
The pilot program also entails busing an additional 240 elementary students at certain schools. These students must live a mile or further from their school.
Currently, students are only bused if they live 1.5 miles or further from their school. The goal of the program is to increase attendance among elementary students.
The program may expand in the future based on feedback.
Krahulik-Knapp said next year the state transportation department will conduct a hazardous walking route study in Allentown to evaluate the traffic of local roads and whether they're still safe for students to cross.
He said the study hasn’t been done in recent years.
New offerings, LANTA partnership
Other new transportation offerings for ASD students next year will include a morning and afternoon shuttle for Central Elementary STREAM Academy; transportation for the early learning center; and busing for students in pre-kindergarten through first grade at the Dual Language Immersion Academy.
There also will be an expansion of a current partnership ASD has with Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority.
Secondary students in ASD have free access to LANTA buses based on a $153,000 contract that ends this summer. ASD students can ride the bus for free with their ID 24/7 throughout the year.
The district is negotiating the next contract with LANTA, which will additionally provide free transportation to secondary charter school students at Lincoln Leadership Charter School, Executive Education Charter School and Roberto Clemente middle and high schools.
During the 2023-24 school year, the average school day ridership for ASD students on LANTA buses is about 2,000, an increase of 600 students from the year prior, the first of the partnership.
Additionally, ASD will provide busing for secondary parochial school students outside district boundaries by request next year.
