PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With the clock ticking toward SEPTA’s Thursday funding deadline, the school district is trying to prepare students and families for possible changes on their way to school.
If SEPTA slashes service on August 24, the day before school starts, 55,000 students will wake up to longer, more crowded trips, or no service at all.
“It’s really important that we do everything that we can to fulfill our obligation to make sure that they have transportation to school,” said Philadelphia School District Superintendent Tony Watlington.
But Watlington said the district can’t simply run more yellow buses, as they’re already 32 bus drivers short.
“We have an infrastructure with public transportation, so it’s inefficient to do two systems,” he also explained.
The district is urging families to explore carpools or other workarounds if SEPTA options are unavailable.
“We are going to do everything humanly possible to support our parents in helping them to think about carpools and workarounds to the extent that we can,” said Watlington.
The district is also coordinating with Philadelphia police to cover changes in school safety zones. School Safety Chief Craig Johnson said both agencies are preparing to increase their visibility.
“What that would look like would be an increased presence by the Philadelphia police department, to the extent that they are able to, as well as utilizing our patrol division officers to be in those highly-traveled corridors and hubs where students travel to and from school.”
Johnson said the school community, especially parents, will need to pitch in.
“Students are used to things being normalized and traveling the same way and the same method. And it’s probably going to require a lot more from parents.”