To help deal with a bus driver shortage that has affected schools nationally, the school district has found alternative transportation for some students who live in Baldwin-Whitehall but go to schools outside the district.

One of those transportation services is HopSkipDrive, a technology company based in Los Angeles that connects students with vetted caregiver drivers. The company works with 10,000 schools across 13 states, as well as government agencies and nonprofits.

HopSkipDrive drivers have given more than 3 million rides and driven over 61 million miles since 2014.

Rachel Sprouse, the district’s deputy superintendent, said the district uses HopSkipDrive for transporting 10 students to specialized or religious schools outside the district. Baldwin legally has to transport students to non-district schools up to 10 miles of district borders.

At the beginning of the year, Baldwin administrators created daily requests through HopSkipDrive for each day the child needs to be transported, and a driver picks up and transports the child, much like Uber or Lyft. Through an app or text message, parents can receive updates with pickup times, live ride tracking, and driver information.

Sprouse said the company reached out to Baldwin to offer help.

“They are very popular out in the eastern part of the state, in the Philadelphia area. They were looking to move into the Pittsburgh area, so they reached out to us because we’re always advertising for bus drivers,” Sprouse said. “We had meetings with them starting last March or April to see what they were all about, what they could bring to the district, and what they could offer.”

The program started in August. Although the process did not start perfectly, it seems to be moving forward and getting better each day, Sprouse said.

“I’ve talked with some parents of kids who are using HopSkipDrive, and there’s been some hiccups along the way,” Sprouse said. “But for the most part, kids are getting to school and they’re getting to where they need to be.”

HopSkipDrive is also partnering with other area schools, including Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Cindy Hamilton, the director of communications for HopSkipDrive, said that the company has intense checks on who drives the students to school to help with safety measures.

“All CareDrivers must pass a 15-point certification process before they can give their first ride. This process includes criminal background/record and driving record checks, fingerprinting, child abuse and neglect screening, and vehicle requirements – including a valid license, registration, insurance, and inspection,” Hamilton said.

“Once certified, HopSkipDrive CareDrivers are also subject to continuous criminal and motor vehicle report monitoring. These drivers are also experienced caregivers: parents, grandparents, babysitters, and more. All CareDrivers must have at least five years of caregiving experience,” Hamilton said.

The company also monitors what happens during drives, such as checking for excessive braking, speeding, or careless driving.

The district also uses two other transportation services to bus resident students who do not attend district schools: First Student and FirstAlt.

First Student is a bus company and FirstAlt is its student ride-share service. FirstAlt, according to its website, has the same driver every day for each route. For transportation, the company uses sedans, SUVs, minivans, and wheelchair vans from other existing transportation companies.

Like HopSkipDrive, FirstAlt drivers follow various safety measures including state, local, and district requirements.

Sprouse said First Student and FirstAlt are transportation services for non-BWSD students.

In total, First Student and FirstAlt transport 215 students who live in the Baldwin-Whitehall school district that go to charter, parochial, and private schools.

“FirstAlt is similar to HopSkipDrive and only transports students to one of the many schools that are not BWSD schools,” Sprouse said. “These are typically schools that have only one or two students that attend from the district.”

In a Sept. 28 email to district families, Supt. Dr. Randal Lutz explained the plan.

“We continue to serve our five schools with our own district-operated bus fleet but have sought assistance from third-party vendors to transport children that attend private and charter schools within and outside of our community as well as any of our students that are temporarily homeless,” Lutz said. “Currently we have contracts with First Student, FirstAlt, and HopSkipDrive as well as some other smaller vendors. We will continue to explore options in this area; however, most companies are facing the same challenges with drivers that we are.”

Hiring bus drivers has been a struggle both nationally and at Baldwin for a few years now. Seven years ago there were 60 drivers within the district. That number has dropped to 39 drivers just this year.

Using services like HopSkipDrive and FirstAlt for students going to non-district schools frees up district drivers and buses for Baldwin school routes.

Despite these efforts, the district has still struggled with covering district bus routes. Because of call-offs from drivers, bus routes 3, 12, and 93 were canceled on Oct. 21. Bus routes 7, 60, 89, and 97 were also canceled on Nov. 1. There were bus cancellations last year as well.

On those days, the affected students cannot use HopSkipDrive, First Student, and FirstAlt.

“When we have to cancel a bus route, we do not use any of these other services,” Sprouse said. “We use their services in place of using a BWSD bus and bus driver for the entire school year. In the event that we need to cancel a bus route that goes to a BWSD school, we are not able to reach out to one of these other companies for help.”

Before the Oct. 21 bus route cancellation, the district had combined bus routes. The high school previously ran two waves of buses but now runs one wave with longer routes.

To accomplish this, school start times changed. The high school now begins at 7:25, five minutes earlier than it did at the beginning of the year, and ends at 2:10, 10 minutes later than the end time.