CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- Clarksville-Montgomery-County school bus drivers took to the streets this week as drivers practiced new routes, mock drop-offs and pickups at schools to work out the logistics as the first day of school nears on Aug. 31.
Loading and unloading the bus will take more time this year with the health and safety precautions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Anthony Johnson, Clarksville Montgomery County spokesperson.
The schools bus riders
All students utilizing CMCSS transportation are required to wear masks while on the bus.
CMCSS has a fleet of 335 buses and about 12,000 traditional students whose parents/guardians have chosen for them to ride CMCSS bus transportation.
The routes
Routing is developed before each school year and routes are continuously monitored, evaluated and improved throughout the school year to be as efficient as possible. Since 42% of students are enrolled in CMCSS K-12 Virtual and only around 55% students returning traditionally will ride CMCSS transportation, there will be less students riding on CMCSS school buses.
The Transportation Department is adding more stops on routes to allow for better physical distancing at bus stops. There will be less students riding on CMCSS school buses and because of this, the district will be able to reduce capacities on buses.
Currently, the Transportation Department is projecting an average ridership per bus of around 28 for middle and high and 35 for elementary.
The drivers
The CMCSS Transportation Department is still actively seeking drivers. Pay starts at $15.80 per hour with great benefits. The district provides CDL training at no cost to candidates. For questions, interested candidates can email Calvin.Holliday@cmcss.net or call 931 358-4230.
Currently, there is not a projected cost savings since the fleet size and staffing needs will remain the same. Potential fuel savings are yet to be determined.
CMCSS continued monitoring
The CMCSS released more information to parents on how they are monitoring the spread of COVID-19 as school approaches.
In a message to parents they said:
“CMCSS and the Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) are, on a daily basis, reviewing the several COVID-19 metrics in Montgomery County. Regarding the percent of COVID-19 in the community metric, MCHD informed CMCSS that there was a delay in the entry of recovered cases into the data system which directly affects the accuracy of the current number of active cases.
Although Montgomery County has hovered right between low to medium spread, the percentage would be lower based on this information.
The Tennessee Department of Health is actively updating the calculation. Because of this, MCHD does not recommend using the percent of COVID-19 in the community as a basis for transitioning from traditional to remote. CMCSS and MCHD will continue reviewing multiple metrics and will be adding metrics over time such as employee and student absentee rates.”
The rate of spread is monitored by the following metrics
Utilizing the Montgomery County United State Census Bureau 2019 data, the population is rounded to 209,000 for convenience in the calculations.
Low Spread = 0 – 0.499%
Medium Spread = 0.5% – 1.0%
High Spread = greater than 1.0%
CMCSS is continuing to move forward with a traditional reopening on Aug. 31 for families that chose that model for their child(ren).
As always, families choosing traditional for their child(ren) should make preparations throughout the year in the event that individuals are quarantined and/or school buildings are closed and remote learning must take place.