There will be an increase of traffic around schools. Motorists will notice more students at school bus stops and changing traffic patterns with several school relocations.
“We want everyone to think about the safety of our children,” said Bob Snidemiller, WCPSS Transportation Director. “We want drivers to be alert to children at bus stops and the additional buses on the road.
WCPSS expects about 140,000 students in school this year with nearly 75,000 taking one of the districts’ 900 buses. This is a good time for motorists to review their responsibilities in regards to school buses and for parents to review with their children family and school guidelines for riding the bus.
There will be changing traffic patterns with Smith Elementary School and Wake Forest-Rolesville High moving. Smith Elementary returns to its campus at 1101 Maxwell Drive in Raleigh after spending a year in swing space while their campus underwent major renovation. Wake Forest-Rolesville High is moving into swing space at the Heritage High campus at 1150 Forestville Road, Wake Forest for a year, while its campus undergoes major renovation.
School bell schedules have changed slightly for all schools and across the school system, all schools will release earlier on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, schools will be releasing one hour early to provide time for teachers to meet in professional learning teams to discuss ways to boost student achievement. Parents should be aware that the bell schedule will be new this year for all schools.
Helping youngest riders
Kindergartners and first graders who ride the bus will be given name tags for the first 20 days of school. This process worked well for the opening of our year-round schools this year.
Schools will place name tags on students before boarding the afternoon bus. Tags will include student name, school name and phone number, bus route number and bus stop location. Parents are encouraged to teach children to know their home address, phone number and bus route name. Help prepare children for the new experience of riding the bus to school.
The Wake County Public School System provides bus transportation to all base students in the system who live one-and-a-half miles or more from school and to students with identified special needs. The system's transportation department is committed to providing these students with safe, efficient and reliable transportation service that contributes to their overall academic success.
The start of the school year is a challenging time for the WCPSS Transportation Department. Transportation planners create routes for the new year by looking at the students who were transported the prior year and obtaining new information from WCPSS Growth Management of students enrolled for this school year. The Transportation Department creates new routes based on their expectation of student ridership.
The first week of school, parents and students are making decisions about the best use of buses to get to and fromschool. As families make decisions about their use of buses, the Transportation Department adapts routes to meet the riders’ needs. As families finalize decisions about their use of bus service, bus routes are finalized. This process generally takes about two weeks.
Parents have many questions about bus service at the start of school. Transportation staff will respond to inquiries as quickly as possible. Questions can be e-mailed to transportation@wcpss.net or people can call their Transportation Managers.
District
Manager
Phone Number
Apex
Jennifer Bullard
387-2230
Broughton
Torina Lovick
856-7821
Cary
Jimena Mitchell
460-3517
East Wake
Derick Curtis
365-2627
Enloe
Leigh Highfill
856-7916
Fuquay
Carol McDowell
557-2547
Garner
Regina Horton
662-2408
Green Hope
Wanda Davis
380-3690
Holly Spring
Vicky Jacobs
577-1440
Knightdale
Martin Horton
217-5377
Millbrook
Delores Kittrell
870-4247
Sanderson
Teresa Williams
508-9064
Southeast Raleigh
Tina Horton
856-2828
Wakefield
Kristi Harden
562-3630
Wake Forest
Lisa Pennywell
554-8631
Area
Area Manager
Phone Number
Northern Area
Christy Estes
570-2140
Southern Area
Kathy McGhee
856-2829
Western Area
Jimena Mitchell
466-4368
Parents are encouraged to visit our Transportation website at www.wcpss.net/transportation to find answers to questions regarding services due to the high volume of calls the departments receives the first couple weeks of school. Should you still have questions, we can be reached at (919) 856-8050. We will have additional operators during this time period to take and return calls. Should you need to leave a message, the department will return your call within 24 hours.
Bus routes for schools are online at www.wcpss.net/school-directory/bus-routes/. Other information regarding transportation services can be found on the Transportation website, such as how to request services, forms and board policies related to transportation services.
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