Edwardsville School District Discusses Transportation System at School Board Meeting

EDWARDSVILLE - Acting Superintendent Dr. Allen Duncan gave an update on the Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 transportation study.

During the district’s regular meeting of the Board of Education, Duncan explained that the district is working on an analysis of their transportation system. The district hopes to ensure the buses are operating as efficiently as possible.

“The goal of the analysis is to improve the efficiency of our transportation system,” he said.

The district’s last transportation study was approved by the Board and implemented during the 2011–2012 school year. Since then, enrollment has declined by about 500 students. Duncan asserted there are “inefficiencies in our transportation system,” and the goal is to minimize these going forward.

In 2023, the district began conducting ridership audits. Bus drivers conducted eight audits during the 2024–2025 school year and five so far during the 2025–2026 school year. During an audit, bus drivers “literally have a pen and paper” and will denote every student who gets on and off the bus, Duncan explained.

Through these audits, the district has identified three buses that serve a maximum of 12 riders and three buses that serve 16 or fewer riders across all routes throughout the day. Additionally, there are approximately 730 unused bus stops throughout the transportation system.

“That’s six buses that we know we are not maximizing the seats on the bus,” Duncan said.

The district’s Transportation Fund is projected to end Fiscal Year 26 with a deficit of over $350,000 and a projected $900,000 deficit in Fiscal Year 27. The district aims to adjust the bus routes so the transportation system is as efficient as possible, which will both save money and open them up to other conversations about school start times.

“Before we can even dive into that work, we have to make sure that our buses are efficient and that we have a sustainable model,” Duncan said.

Families who do not use the bus stops they were assigned will receive a direct communication about the district’s plan to cut these bus stops from their route. If a family needs a bus stop that has been cut, they can alert the district, which will then reroute the bus. Duncan emphasized that no major changes will be made without plenty of communication to families.

He added that it’s mostly the northern routes that are “the ones that we can tighten up.” He noted that they are looking to “identify the most efficient, financially responsible way” to do a full ridership study, as the data they have collected takes a lot of time and effort from the transportation team.

CFO Dave Courtney also pointed out that the district has many hazardous routes because the routes cross over major state highways and other obstacles. This, plus the size of the district, complicates their transportation system.

Duncan promised to return to the Board with more information.

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