LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg City Schools has a new alternative transportation program called the Missed Bus Pickup program, which aims to help kids get to school on time in the mornings with the main goal of helping with attendance.
The school division said if your kid in Lynchburg misses the bus, they can be picked up and dropped off at their school.
“If a parent realizes their child has missed the bus, then the parent can call the school and reach out to our team’s clerk who’s able to contact our coordinator downtown and schedule a ride for their child to get picked up and dropped off right at the front door of their school,” said Chief Academic and Student Services Officer Derrick Brown with Lynchburg City Schools.
Last year, 22.6 percent of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed more than 18 days or more of school, according to Brown. Between 2022 and 2023, 24.8 percent of students were chronically absent. 28.5 percent of students were chronically absent between 2021 and 2022.
Lynchburg City Schools started Missed Bus Pickup program this year using the funds from the All in VA initiative.
Brown said it was awarded more than $104,000 for the alternative transportation program and other incentives to help with attendance. He also said it was awarded more than $376,000 last year to use over three years from the All in VA initiative.
So far, it’s picked up a few children a day.
Driver Ethan Turner-Moreno said this is helping not only kids but also parents.
“A lot of parents I’d say are relieved because a lot of the time, it can be stressful,” said Turner-Moreno.
Brown said if you need to schedule a ride for your child, you can only do so the morning that they miss their bus. Brown said the bus runs from 7:45 to 11:30 a.m. with the last time to call and request a ride at 11:30 a.m. It is first come, first serve basis, and you can only use the program for your children twice a quarter.
There’s only one van right now, but Brown said he would love to extend the program to provide more vans and drivers if they get more money.
He said there are some other initiatives Lynchburg is implementing to address attendance as well.
“We do have another program that we are looking forward to initiating here in the coming weeks and we are able to recover student absences if they’ve missed a certain amount of days during the school day. They can make that time up on Saturdays they can make that time up before or after school,” said Brown.
He said there isn’t an exact date yet for when that will start but the school division is thinking mid-November.