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Budget Brief: Transportation

Budget Brief: Transportation

Every day, Minneapolis Public Schools transports about 19,000 students to and from school. In addition, MPS provides daily transportation for:

  • Field trips, athletic trips and after school activities.
  • Students outside of school walk zones. 
  • Use of alternate pick-up or drop-off locations for students. 
  • Bus service for students in care and treatment programs. 
  • Bus service to MPS schools for students living outside the district who are experiencing homelessness or are in foster care. 
  • Home stops for students in midday High Five programs. 
  • Transportation for students for learning job skills at job sites. 
  • Transportation for students ages 3 & 4 years old in High Five programs all the way up to 21 years old in special programs.

Transportation to improve equity

  • This past school year MPS launched a shuttle bus service for Career and Technical Education (CTE) participants to increase access to CTE programming for all MPS students. This service costs $2,018,842. 
  • This year, North High School students have access to yellow bus service, in addition to Metro Transit Go-To cards, to meet the needs of the community. $187,000
  • MPS provides transportation to students experiencing homelessness and high mobility. This service is required by law under the McKinney-Vento Act. Students identified as experiencing homelessness or high mobility have increased 40% since last year. 
  • Currently, 1874 students who receive special education services receive home stops. 

 

Total Annual Costs
Regular routes $ 14,838,130.14
Special education routes $ 26,245,059.69
Homeless and highly mobile, and foster care routes $ 16,377,652.53
Metro Transit Go-To program $ 1,959,062.00
Field trips $ 896,494.72
Total $ 60,316,399.08

 

Transportation Guidelines
Grade Level MPS Guidelines State Guidelines
pre-K - grade 5

Bus stops are provided for students living .5 miles or more from their schools, and are in the attendance area for that school.

Bus stops will never be more than .25 miles from a student’s home.

Section 123B.88
“In any district, the board must arrange for the attendance of all pupils living two miles or more from the school, except pupils whose transportation privileges have been voluntarily surrendered under subdivision 2, or whose privileges have been revoked under section 123B.91, subdivision 1, clause (5)."

Plain Language
School districts must provide transportation for students who live two miles or more from their schools except for special situations. 
grades 6-8

Bus stops are provided for students living one mile or more from their schools, and are in the attendance area for that school.

Bus stop location will never be more than .5 miles from a student’s home.