ROANOKE, Va. – As transportation continues to be debated in Roanoke City Schools, school leaders have proposed solutions for the 2024-25 school year based on feedback from the community.
Ensuring that students make it to school on time has been an ongoing challenge for the school division, with hundreds of students late every day due to bus issues.
Next week, on Tuesday, May 28, the School Board will have three options to choose from in terms of bringing about change.
It’ll be a mix of changes, including schedule changes, enforcing when students have to walk to school or having family members take them when they are in close proximity to their school, a geographic realignment that would allow some schools to change tiers to make it easier for buses to reach their routes on time, and not taking students to after-school care if it’s out of the attendance zone.
“We had some really lively and robust conversations. We didn’t always agree, but we always were able to honor each other with respect and hear each other’s perspective in order to bring options and recommendations forward to the public and to our School Board for their consideration,” said Roanoke City Public Schools Superintendent, Verletta White.
Parents got a survey earlier this year to give feedback and the school system said it was very clear that having middle and high school students ride the bus together was incredibly unpopular, so that wasn’t included in the initial recommendations.
For a full breakdown of the three packages, click here.
We will continue to update this article as we learn more.