BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) – Kern County Superintendents and the Kern County Department of Human Services are partnering with HopSkipDrive to provide transportation for students from at-risk populations.
Cindy Hamilton, representative of the Hop Skip Drive, tells me, “Parents, school staff, transportation officials, they all step in.”
Hamilton of Hop Skip Drive told me that when surveying transportation shortages across the country, 91 percent of respondents said their operations were limited by a shortage of school bus drivers.
Hamilton says, “They face the challenge of not having enough bus drivers, which unfortunately forces them to shorten or reduce their routes to school.”
The Kern County School Board and the Department of Human Services have partnered with Hop Skip Drive.
The company is expanding options for local schools and students…including those struggling with unstable circumstances, such as foster children.
“We say we need to keep them in their home school,” said Jana Slagle, Department of Human Services.
Officials estimate that once the program is fully established and operational, this option will benefit an average of 30 students in foster care with daily transportation in Bakersfield and surrounding communities.
Locally, nearly 44% of foster care students transfer…compared to nearly 38% statewide.
And about 65% of local students live in the Kern High School, Bakersfield City, Greenfield and Panama Buena Vista Union school districts.
“This is just another resource to help them and help the child get to their destination safely and with less stress.”
You can contact your local school district to find out if your school offers this service and download the Hop Drive Skip app.
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