Chief of Support Operations Steve Bonino Overview mission is dedicated to partnering with schools, families, and communities to provide safe and efficient transportation in support of District school programs and services. The Department s new vision is Kids First Education Begins with. The Department transports approximately 53,000 students two times per day. A fleet of 782 buses serve 177 schools and programs which includes Alternative and Charter Schools. In addition, maintains school-based activity buses. On a daily basis, school bus routes serve 2,386 square miles and make 18,624 bus stops. District buses travel approximately 13 million miles per year. There are approximately 1,100 employees assigned to. Six (6) transportation facilities are operated and each has its own maintenance and fueling facility. The Department is responsible for the maintenance and repair of over 970 service vehicles (aka, White Fleet) operated by School Police, Maintenance and Plant Operations, School Food Service, Information Technology, and numerous other District departments. has a budget of approximately $43 million, which supports transportation services for eligible students to and from their respective school, along with Magnet, Special Needs, Vocational, Alternative, McKinney-Vento, and other special programs. For the 2013 school year, state funding received was estimated at $24.3 million or approximately 54% of the Department s needed funding. The Department provides support to, and collaborates with, internal and external entities such as State Certified Bargaining Groups, Service Employees International Union/Florida Public Union (SEIU/FPSU), AESOP, CTA, PBA, and the District s Staff Association; the District s Division of Human Resources and its myriad departments; Legal and Labor Relations; as well as, the Departments of Risk & Benefits Management and Budget. In addition, provides assistance to the County s Emergency Operation Center regarding emergency evacuation in the West area communities of Belle Glade, South Bay, and Pahokee, which consists of approximately 18,000 residents. performs the following essential functions for the School District of Palm Beach County: transportation operations and fleet services, student ridership to include school bus routing and scheduling, school bus operator safety, training and compliance, customer service call center and full time equivalent (FTE) surveys. A diagram of the current organizational structure follows: Page 2 of 10
Current Organization Structure Director General Manager Special Projects Centralized School Bus Routing General Manager South North Supervisor Maintenance Training Section Area Team Leader Central West/Royal Palm East Operations Functional Areas: Director General Manager Central North West/Royal Palm East South Central North Royal Palm West East South (2) Central (3) North (3) Royal Palm (3) West (3) East (3) South (3) Central (2) North (2) Royal Palm (2) West (1) East (2) South (2) Central (150) North (117) Royal Palm (89) West (42) East (86) South (165) Bus Attendant North (34) Bus Attendant Royal Palm (32) Bus Attendant West (17) Bus Attendant East (83) Bus Attendant South (65) * Note: Number in parenthesis represents number of employees in job classification Page 3 of 10
Operations consist of approximately 922 regular employees ranging from supervisory staff to school bus drivers and attendants (922 does not include office and clerical support staff). As depicted in the organizational chart above, the Department of Operations section is comprised of six (6) area facilities, located throughout Palm Beach County. Each area facility is managed by an with support staff who conducts the day-to-day operations within each respective facility. Area facilities are operational from 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily. Most department bus driver schedules require clock in before 6:00 AM; the second shift ends between 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Split shifts create hardships for school bus drivers and attendants: travel to work twice a day; involving 11-12 hours of the day to earn 6-8 hours pay. The facilities are strategically set up to provide services to District schools and area communities. North and South area facilities serve student populations in the northern and southern portions of the county, and provide transportation services to both regular and Special Needs student populations East facility serves student populations in the eastern portion of Palm Beach County, and provides transportation services to Special Needs students only Central facility serves the central portion of the Palm Beach County, and provides services to regular student populations only Royal Palm facility serves the mid-western communities of the county, and provides transportation services to regular and Special Needs student populations West facility serves regular and Special Needs student populations in the westernmost portion of Palm Beach County, which includes the Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay communities Page 4 of 10
Fleet Director General Manager Training Section Supervisor Maintenance Area Team Leader Fleet consist of 108 employees ranging from supervisory staff to mechanics to helpers, who maintain and service 1,752 vehicles, to include buses or yellow fleet (782) and service or white fleet (970) vehicles. The fleet services team is required to maintain District vehicles to federal (DOT) and state (DOE) standards. All mechanics and their direct supervisors must maintain a current DOE Bus Safety Inspector Certification. In addition, Fleet is responsible for purchasing and monitoring of vehicle fuels with a fuel budget just over $9M annually. Inventory management and control, with the exception of fuel products, was recently outsourced to Integrated Business Systems (aka, NAPA). is improving fleet equity through the planned installation of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a digital surveillance system on all District-owned school buses to begin the 2014/15 school year. These technology initiatives should distinguish Palm Beach County District Schools as the only school bus fleet in the southeast United States fully equipped with these technological capabilities. According to source data from the Florida Department of Education Finance and Offices Automated School Bus Inventory System, the School District of Palm Beach County s fleet is the 8th largest in the state. Palm Beach County is the 11th largest School District in the nation, with the largest geographical area east of the Mississippi River. In fact, the School District of Palm Beach County s geographical area is larger than the state of Rhode Island. According to The Quality Link Florida School District Profiles, the School District of Palm Beach County s Department of has a higher Average Bus Occupancy (ABO) and smaller fleet in daily service (662) than our neighboring school districts of Broward (1,175 buses), Hillsborough (992 buses), Miami-Dade (1,180 buses), and Orange (919 buses) counties, who service smaller geographical territories. Page 5 of 10
Average Bus Occupancy Q-Link 2011-12 67.11 70.14 79.26 82.24 49.95 Miami-Dade Broward Orange Hillsborough Palm Beach The Quality Link Florida School District Profiles, Volume 22, for School Year 2011-2012 http://www.fldoe.org/transportation/pdf/profiles1112.pdf ABO is defined as the average students transported, divided by average buses. Average bus occupancy is part of the state formula used to determine transportation funding for school districts where the most efficient districts (with higher ABO) receive most funds. School Bus Operator Safety, Training and Compliance Safety, training and compliance are critical functional responsibilities performed by the Department of. This work unit is comprised of two (2) full time employees and four (4) department bus drivers (state certified trainers/examiners), who serve dual roles for the Department as driver and trainer. In order to maintain compliance with Federal and State law, as well as Board Policy, these critical functions must be addressed. The Department is involved in providing safety and training to school bus operators in the following categories: Department Bus Drivers School-based Bus Drivers Charter School Bus Drivers All other District employees, other than bus drivers, requiring Commercial Driver s License (CDL) licensure to operate a school bus offers CDL training free of charge to selected trainees who have applied for employment with the School District as school bus drivers. Department trainees receive no pay during the 30-day training program (in some cases longer), which consists of classroom and behind the wheel training, as well as a CDL examination component. On average, CDL Driver Trainer Schools charge $2,000 to $5,000 for similar CDL training. Page 6 of 10
Student Ridership currently utilizes a custom-made routing system. The Department utilizes a three-tier routing system for most of its routes. A three-tiered system separates transportation of high school, middle school and elementary school students affording improved passenger experience, with fewer behavior concerns. The current system provides routing information for approximately 53,000 students who are transported annually to and from high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. The current three-tier system significantly increases our Average Bus Occupancy (ABO) ratio. The Department is undergoing in-depth internal discussions regarding options that would allow to acquire a more robust routing system. This new routing system would effectively optimize the Department s routing capabilities and provide a more effective and efficient centralized routing system. This routing system acquisition would lead to an improved time delivery of students and a reduction in the number of required routes. These new system efficiencies would enhance service to District stakeholder. is also in the process of reorganizing its centralized routing group to further improve efficiency yields. The new group will include a Geographic Information System (GIS) expert to assist with routing. The Department is presently aiming to equip all of its buses with GPS. The District also plans to equip its entire fleet with digital surveillance systems having wireless download capabilities. This effort will require retrofitting and/or upgrades to the 636 analog cameras, as well as purchase and installation of 745 new digital surveillance systems. Current surveillance systems, maintained by the District s School Police Department, are of tremendous value to fleet, students, parents and employees. Digital surveillance coupled with GPS will allow monitoring of on-board school bus activities in a real-time medium. Digital surveillance, along with GIS and GPS installations, will significantly enhance the value of the District s student ridership transportation system. Upgrades and new installations will require approximately $1.8 million in funding. Page 7 of 10
Customer Service Call Center Director Manager Information Technology Solutions Technical Analyst Service Representatives (6) The Customer Service Call Center is the centralized and single point of contact for stakeholders to interact with regarding transportation issues like school bus routing and scheduling. The Center is located at the East Facility and is being evaluated for facility and operational improvements. Current staff consists of one (1) Manager, one (1) Technical Analyst and six (6) permanent Service Representatives; three (3) mainly for Maintenance & Plant Operations work orders and three (3) for related matters. Full Time Equivalent Surveys (FTE) The Full Time Equivalent Surveys are one of the District s major sources of funding for. This effort requires the cooperation of all operations supervisory staff, including department bus drivers, to work in concert to document and account for all students that ride District school buses to determine eligibility for funding. The Department is supported by other District departments in auditing and transferring the survey data to the State for reimbursement. This effort must be conducted in order for to receive the portion of funding from the State which accounts for approximately 54% of the Department s funding. Surveys are conducted four times per year (July, October, February, and June). Page 8 of 10
Funding Considerations funding considerations are congruent with funding challenges being experienced by most school district transportation departments nationwide. Funding for transportation is derived from two sources: capital and operating. Capital funds are used for bus purchases, leases, and vehicle maintenance. The operating budget covers all other expenses including payroll and fuel. For fiscal year 2014 the capital budget for was $4.0 million and the operating budget is $51.5 million. The District receives $23.5 million for Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) funding for transportation operations. The District s transportation costs are more than twice the amount provided by the Legislation through the Department of Education (DOE). This essentially has the effect of redirecting $30 million from the classroom to transportation. On the capital funding side, the allowable school district millage rate has been reduced by the Legislature from 2.0 mills to 1.50 mills. As a result, the District is collecting $66 million less property tax revenue for capital costs each year. To cope with less funding, the District made the decision to forego new bus purchases the last two years. Funding remains a challenge for to perform site improvements to area facilities. While the Department is able to operate and successfully transport District students, District leadership clearly recognizes the needs that exists and is currently working toward meeting these needs. The Department is continuously improving fleet fidelity, but funding availability remains a challenge. It limits the number of vehicles and technological improvements that can be purchased. Current Initiatives and Projects Computer Routing, Scheduling and Reporting System will optimize school bus routes, improve on-time performance and automate elements of required FTE reporting Customer Service Call Center integration will automate required communications between Operations, Fleet and the Customer Service Call Center GPS by Synovia Solutions integrating computers and mobile communications technology to allow for real-time fleet locations and mechanical functions data Digital Surveillance (Bus Cameras) Bus Acquisitions (purchase/lease) Inventory Management Outsourcing to Integrated Business Systems (NAPA) Page 9 of 10
Proposed Organization Structure is currently geographically aligned with cross-functional areas of responsibility. New leadership is presently reviewing the Department s operational and business processes and transitioning to a functionally-aligned accountability model as depicted below: Director Manager Business & Financial Support Manager Information Technology Solutions General Manager Operations General Manager Fleet Payroll Administration ESE Administration Operations Centers (6) Inventory Management & Warranty Budget Administration Customer Service Call Center Fuel Office Student Survey Administration - FTE Centralized Routing & Scheduling Fleet Maintenance Garages (6) Consideration Areas for Economic Council Review NAPA Outsourcing Contract. Seek opinions regarding future outsourcing possibilities Vehicle acquisition and replacement process Customer Service Call Center structure and functionality CDL training process and trainee payment Page 10 of 10