January 2023 Transportation Plan

Dear Maple Valley Families and Staff,

I want to thank and acknowledge the following people for participating in our work session held on 11.16.22 for the purpose of setting a community-informed plan of action to address our severe shortage of drivers that will impact our ability to transport students in January. The committee determined unanimously that our best option is to have Community Stops to which parents take their children. The buses will wait at those stops for ten minutes and then proceed to the next stop. The High School will also serve as a community stop to transfer students to Fuller and Maplewood Schools. Our normal routes will cease to exist after the Winter Break. We are working on the details and logistics of this plan now in conjunction with a concentrated ad campaign to try and find more qualified drivers. Please see our transportation page for qualifications and application information. 

This plan allows us to maximize the bus drivers we have, and provide access to all students of the district with community help. If it is a challenge for you to get students to the assigned community stop please begin talking with your neighbors, family, and friends about ride shares and trading responsibilities for getting our kids to the stops. This is going to be a great opportunity for our community to pull together and help one another to ensure all of our kids get to the community stops. We are strong when we work together to solve problems, no one can do this alone. Everyone is a resource to help our students.

If you have questions and know the following people, they are well-informed on our challenges, budgetary limits, driver requirements, and options. Additionally, we are creating a direct link on the main page of our website to our Transportation Department for easy access to new information as our transportation plans continue to evolve.

Best,

Dr. Katherine Bertolini Superintendent	Mr. Eric Chamberlain Director of Transportation & Operations