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ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) -- St. Louis Public Schools is working out the details on transportation for students for the upcoming school year.

Over the last few years, the district has been dealing with bus driver shortages, leading to late buses and interrupted service.

The new outlined plan for the district includes hiring 19 vendors with a mix of a fleet of traditional yellow buses, passenger vans, and shuttles to get students to school.

Superintendent Dr. Keisha Scarlett said the timing of Missouri Central cutting ties with the district didn’t give SLPS the opportunity to find vendors with a large enough fleet.

“Many systems that are larger transportation providers are not part of the city, so we have an opportunity to bring resources back into our city to help smaller businesses to grow through this process,” Dr. Scarlett said.

The superintendent is also optimistic this will help lead to a better 2025-2026 school year with enough time to pick a vendor, or vendors.

With the unique transportation system for this upcoming school year, SLPS said it will have to cut some bus routes.

“We have established in-house routing so we have people who know St. Louis,” Dr. Scarlett said. “They know our neighborhoods. They know issues that may be hotspots for safety concerns. They know our public transportation systems and our roads.”

Because of this, some students will be walking further to get to their bus stop. SLPS grandparent Joyce Hall said for her, that’s a major concern.

“During daylight hours it might not be bad, but when it’s dark early in the morning in the fall or whatever, that is a bad idea,” Hall said. “We have a lot over here, and probably in every neighborhood. We have a lot of pit bulls roaming.”

Hall said it’s more than just stray dogs that scares her for the students.

“Students walking across, as they say, ‘the turf,’ because when you’re on your own side and you’re waiting for the school bus that’s fine but if they say they want you walking a little further, a little further may be on somebody else’s turf,” Hall said.

Dr. Scarlett said this is top of mind for the district, wanting to have minimal impact on kids and their families.

“I would never have children in circumstances that I wouldn’t have my own child in,” Dr. Scarlett said. “We would never sacrifice safety for efficiency.”

This new plan is something Dr. Scarlett is considering a temporary fix to the transportation issues in the district. The goal is to streamline operations.

Hall described last year’s transportation as hectic, as her granddaughter tried to get from North City to her South City high school.

“It’s been times where it’s really, really cold and the bus wasn’t coming,” Hall said. “Either they came or they didn’t come and then when we would call the number we were supposed to call to see where the bus was at, they would answer and then put you on hold.”

The district is still working out the details on which routes are being cut and which high school students will have to take the Metro to get to school.

Dr. Scarlett said SLPS wants to hear from families, either through the SLPS website or at upcoming events.