News Releases
November 13, 2003
District 15 Transportation Department Wins Top National Quality Award
District 15’s Transportation Department, which transports more than 10,000 students daily to district and local parochial schools, has been selected as the 2003 winner of the top school transportation award in the nation—the Leland E.G. Larson Quality Student Transportation Award, presented by the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT).
The award was presented November 9 at the 2003 NAPT Conference and Trade Show held this year in Salt Lake City, Utah. Accepting on behalf of the district was William B. Willetts III, District 15 director of transportation. The district received a plaque and a $1,000 cash award.
The Leland E.G. Larson Quality Student Transportation Program recognizes and rewards school districts and companies that are committed to improving the quality of their student transportation services and that provide high quality customer service in safety-centered operations. District 15 is only the third winner since the award was established in 1999.
Award winners are selected by a peer review committee in a three-step process which reviews administrative and operational issues: completing a comprehensive questionnaire, a telephone conference interview, and a site visit. At each step, applicants receive feedback in a detailed assessment of their operations. District 15 previously applied for the award in 2002, progressing to the telephone interview phase of the award-granting process and receiving suggestions for quality improvement, many of which were implemented. No award was granted in 2002.
The quality program was developed with a $50,000 grant given to NAPT by Leland E.G. Larson, the former owner and president of a Gresham, OR, school bus company. Larson wanted to foster creativity, recognize quality and reward innovation in student transportation.
Facts about the District 15 Transportation Department
—Students transported daily: 10,277
—Schools served: 23 (15 district elementary schools, 4 district junior high schools, four local parochial schools)
—Service area: 36 square miles
—Mileage: 1.6 million miles annually
—On-time performance: 98%
—Fleet composition: 138 vehicles (84 large buses, 41 small buses, 13 wheelchair buses)
—Average route: just under 10 miles and approximately 25 minutes
—Operational efficiency: to maximize use of buses and drivers, a four-tier system is used. Parochial students are picked up beginning at 7:15 a.m., junior high routes begin at 7:55 a.m., followed by two phases of elementary school routes to accommodate staggered school start times of 8:30 or 9:15 a.m.
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