School bus latest: Stop and driver info available; why some routes didn't show up

A list of Schools of Choice bus stop locations is now available on the Lafayette Parish School System website.

The website also has a list of bus drivers’ names and phone numbers.

Locations and driver information can be found at http://lpssonline.com/site384.php.

On Thursday evening, district officials said such information would be available. However, parents of Schools of Choice students are asked to continue using their assigned bus stops.

The list of stops is subject to change as officials continue to address parent concerns.

FROM THURSDAY: LPSS adds more stops, address routes for some schools

Since the bus routes were first posted last week, some parents have said the district’s new software system, e-Link, has given them incorrect or incomplete route information, even after school started on Wednesday.

Joe Craig, the district’s chief administrative officer, said the system works well for students who attend their home zone school. However, transportation and address information in the district’s student database has to be accurate and complete for the system to work properly.

Schools are responsible for updating such information.

“Additionally, Schools of Choice were to code all of their out-of-zone students with a program code,” Craig said via email. “If this was done, bus route reports were very accurate. As we research and correct the situations where students do not have bus routes, we are finding that either the address is not correct — the field necessary to trigger the need for a bus — or the out-of-zone code has not been filled in.”

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Craig said the exceptions to this were Southside High, Comeaux High and David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy, which he said have “unique circumstances” that have been “a challenge to configure.”

Southside High opened for the first time this week for freshmen and sophomores. Prior to this year, those students would have been zoned for Comeaux High.

David Thibodaux has both a middle and high school and is a complete School of Choice, with no attendance zone.

However, Craig said he believes the district has made significant progress on resolving problems with those schools’ route information.

Meanwhile, the district has expanded its 521-RIDE call center. Ten stations are now available for calls. Originally, there were five such stations.

Craig said if parents call the number and find that the voice mailbox is full, they should send an email to jnsimon@lpssonline.com or drevans@lpssonline.com.