Approximately 850 students across the county will receive school bus transportation service next week as the second phase of Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ Alternative Vehicle Program is implemented.
Seven more vans or SUVs will be put into service – five on Monday, December 12, and two on Tuesday, December 13 – to transport students with special needs to nonpublic facilities across the region. Buses that have been transporting those students will be transferred to general and magnet program routes at comprehensive schools.
The vans and SUVs are driven by drivers who are not required to have CDL licenses and have been acquired through an emergency procurement program approved by the Board earlier this year. More than 1,600 students received service when the first phase of the program launched this week.
Routes were chosen through a variety of factors that include the use of an equity lens aimed at identifying and eliminating negative barriers, whether an additional run will result in students getting to school on time or nearly on time, the volume of students expected to ride a bus, and the existing impact on a school that would be served by such an additional run.
Beginning Monday, December 12, the following routes will be operating:
- Bus 490 – Ridgeway Elementary School, Old Mill High School, Old Mill Middle School South
- Bus 238 – Broadneck Elementary School, Broadneck High School, Magothy River Middle School
- Bus 333 – Jessup Elementary School, Meade High School, Meade Middle School
- Bus 230 – Severn Elementary School, Meade High School, Meade Middle School
- Bus 208 – Folger McKinsey Elementary School, Severna Park High School, Severna Park Middle School (to be run by Bus 600)
Beginning Tuesday, December 13, the following route will be operating:
- Bus 393 – Windsor Farm Elementary School (afternoon only, to be run by Bus 201)
- Bus 412 – North County High School (to be run by Bus 656)
Specific schedules with bus stop pickup times can be found by clicking on the School Bus Schedules link at www.aacps.org/buses. The new stops and times will be reflected on the page no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2022.
As with all routes, service on the routes above could be impacted by sporadic driver unavailability for illness and other personal reasons.
Bus route impacts on a given day will continue to be communicated online at www.aacps.org/buses, by email and text message to registered bus riders at impacted schools, and on the school system’s Facebook page.