A JTA electric bus.
Published on April 8, 2024 at 4:00 pm
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The collaboration between Duval County Public Schools and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to shuttle schoolchildren to class has exceeded the most optimistic expectations.
JTA announced Monday that it has provided more than 210,000 fares to Duval County students through the My Ride to School program.
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More than a third of those were during the 2023 calendar year, as more students took advantage of a program that was created as a pilot in early 2022 to spur public transportation as Northeast Florida emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top routes traverse through Arlington, Moncrief and North Main Street as well as Edgewood. Each has a traditional public high school, like Terry Parker, Raines, Jackson or Paxon School for Advanced Studies, within a few blocks of the route.
My Ride to School provides free fixed-route bus trips to middle and high school students at any public, private or charter school in Duval County. Over the last two years, it has become a vital instrument in local education.
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Erika Harding, assistant superintendent of operations for Duval County Public Schools, says the partnership is part of a “collective goal to remove any roadblocks students may have in commuting to school, home, or places of work, and we’re excited to know that even more students are taking advantage of this program.”
Though the school district has not finalized its in-house bus transportation routes for the 2024-25 academic year, changes may be on the horizon.
During its most recent policy board meeting, on March 27, the Duval County School Board, considered changing its transportation policies in order to save as much as $1 million annually.
The school district provides transportation for students who live at least 1.5 miles from school. The proposed policy shift would push the minimum distance from a school to 2 miles. The 2-mile radius is congruent with statewide policy.
Currently, Duval Schools operates 3,340 bus trips per school day, and there is a $40.9 million budget shortfall in the transportation budget.
“Our surrounding counties don’t provide the courtesy transportation that we do,”’ Director of Transportation Shayla Ferguson told the board. “There are several counties that don’t provide magnet transportation. Of if they provide magnet transportation, there are rules for why that is provided.”
In a community survey, as part of the district’s superintendent search last year, transportation was the second-most cited issue within the district.
Harding told the School Board last month that about 6,600 students who live less than 2 miles from school receive bus transportation.
The School Board has not amended its transportation policy. It will consider its agenda for its May meeting at 9 a.m. April 16
JTA data indicates 89% of Duval County high school students and 78% of middle school students live less than a half-mile from a JTA bus stop.
“When we have budget issues, we always (cut) instructional personnel,” board member Charlotte Joyce said of the district’s transportation services during the policy board meeting. “We are always cutting human capital. Human capital cannot be cut anymore. We need it. Sometimes, you have to look at other areas where you could make cuts. I think this could be one of those areas.”
