The Alexandria City School Board voiced significant concerns Thursday about a city proposal to transition high school students from school buses to public transit, with several members calling for scaled-back pilot programs or questioning the timing of such a significant change.
During a work session at 1340 Braddock Place, board members weighed City Manager James Parajon’s recommendation to implement a three-phase plan moving high school students to DASH buses beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
The board also reviewed evaluation criteria for assessing the proposal, including rubrics examining cost savings, safety improvements, vehicle reduction for climate goals, and equitable access to transportation.
Capacity concerns overshadow potential benefits
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt expressed strong reservations about the district’s ability to take on another major initiative while implementing redistricting changes affecting approximately 1,400 students.
“We are very limited in capacity, and I think we really need to spend our time this year on supporting families and students for that transition,” Kay-Wyatt said during Thursday’s meeting. “We spend a lot of time on redistricting. I would hate to pull away from those efforts. That’s the first thing. The second thing is we need to focus on instruction.”
Board member Tim Beatty suggested a more cautious approach if the district decides to move forward with the proposal.
“If we still wanted to move in this direction, I absolutely think since there’s so few examples of this being done in cities and school divisions around the country, I think we’d have to start with a much smaller pilot that was a controlled one or two routes, one neighborhood or two neighborhoods, a much smaller [scale],” Beatty said.
According to Beatty, few school districts nationally have successfully transitioned high school students from dedicated school buses to public transit systems, leaving Alexandria with limited models to follow.
Financial pressures drive consideration
Board member Ryan Reyna defended the need to address the underlying financial challenges facing the school system.
“I actually do think we have a problem. So I just want to name that,” Reyna said during Thursday’s discussion. “The problem is that we have increasing costs. We have a challenge with the ability to get more money for our system to do the instructional things that we want.”
The proposal comes amid significant transportation challenges. A recent TransPar Group study found the district’s bus system operates at less than 60% overall capacity utilization, with 49 morning runs and 40 afternoon runs identified as underutilized.
District-wide bus ridership has declined from 5,898 morning riders in 2023-24 to 5,496 in 2024-25, according to the TransPar analysis. Average capacity utilization increased from 46% to 58% in morning runs, while afternoon utilization remained steady at about 50%.
Cost savings questioned
The district currently operates 50 high school bus routes serving approximately 1,700 students. The city’s proposal could eliminate 10-12 of those routes in Phase 1 alone.
ACPS Chief Financial Officer Turner’s analysis estimates potential savings of $939,000 annually if all high school routes were discontinued, according to meeting documents. However, Turner warned the savings assume “everything else stays constant” and noted that losing drivers could force the district to outsource transportation at potentially higher costs.
The warning reflects ongoing bus driver shortages that have plagued school systems nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Safety protocols remain unresolved
Previous board meetings have highlighted concerns about safety protocol differences between Alexandria City Public Schools bus drivers and DASH operators.
School board members have raised questions about background check requirements, emergency response procedures, and student supervision protocols that differ between the two transportation systems.
ACPS transportation staff undergo extensive background checks, including sex offender registry verification and specialized training for working with students. At the same time, DASH driver requirements follow Federal Transit Administration standards that may not include the same student-specific protocols.
Evaluation framework established
The board reviewed detailed evaluation rubrics designed to assess whether the DASH proposal would achieve stated goals, including cost savings for both the city and school district, relief of the bus driver shortage, improved driver recruitment and retention, enhanced student attendance and performance, improved on-time arrival rates and equitable access to transportation.
Board Chair Michelle Rief cautioned members to consider varying community viewpoints when evaluating the transportation proposal.
“People tend to enter a conversation like this about having high school students transition to public transit based on their own experiences and preferences, which is fine. It’s totally understandable,” Rief said Thursday. “I just want to ask everyone to be mindful of the fact that not everyone has the same experience, not everyone has the same preferences.”
Rief also suggested incorporating the discussion into long-range educational facilities planning.
Phased implementation under review
The city’s original proposal envisions a three-phase implementation beginning with the 2026-27 school year. Phase 1 would transition approximately 30% of current high school bus riders to existing DASH Lines 31 and 36A/B, which provide direct service to Alexandria City High School’s King Street and Minnie Howard campuses.
Phase 2 would add enhanced service to DASH Line 35 to better serve West End students, potentially covering more than 60% of current bus riders. Some students would need to transfer between routes.
Phase 3 envisions broader systemwide route changes allowing any student within a quarter-mile of a DASH stop to use public transit instead of school buses, potentially serving more than 86% of current riders.
Thursday’s discussion suggested the board may seek significant modifications to the timeline and scope, with multiple members expressing preference for smaller pilot programs or delayed implementation.
Community engagement pending
Any implementation would require extensive community engagement that has not yet begun. The city’s proposal outlines plans for student and parent surveys, listening sessions, ride-along opportunities and informational meetings throughout 2025.
The district would continue providing specialized transportation for students with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness, and for field trips and after-school activities under any DASH transition plan.
Next steps
The board and city council will continue discussions during a joint work session scheduled for Sept. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the School Board Meeting Room at 1340 Braddock Place. The meeting can be viewed via Zoom, and agenda documents will be available in BoardDocs.
Thursday’s session suggested significant skepticism among board members about the proposal’s current form and timeline. Without clear board support, the city may need to substantially revise its recommendation or consider alternative approaches to addressing transportation challenges.
Previous ALXnow coverage has detailed ongoing concerns about the proposal, including safety issues and operational challenges that remain unresolved.
