The 2008-09 school year is upon us, and as those in the pupil transportation industry well know, the first few weeks of school can be hectic.

During this time, when parents and students can become stressed or upset, all staff at a school bus operation must be committed to success and providing excellent customer service.

Embracing the following tips will help to establish this commitment and engender effective, hands-on service at your operation, not only during the start of a new school year, but all year round.

Provide training for office staff and drivers
Good customer service starts with one’s employees, so providing training for your office staff and bus drivers is the first step to ensuring that they will successfully assist parents and students.

At Park Rapids (Minn.) Area School District 309, incoming bus drivers watch videos on employee confidentiality and customer service during their 12 hours of behind-the-wheel training, says Transportation Director Cindy Leach.

Donald Swift, transportation director at Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS), says the department’s office staff members receive training as part of their employee orientation, and annual in-house training for drivers and bus attendants contains customer service components.

“We focus on a ‘customer first’ philosophy with the understanding that the bus is an extension of the school,” Swift explains, and adds that the department’s use of GPS and AVL technologies has increased operational efficiency and service reliability.

Ralph Knight, transportation director at Napa Valley (Calif.) Unified School District (NVUSD), turns to the Napa Chamber of Commerce to find speakers and employees from local businesses who will provide customer service training at no cost to the department.

Knight also invites specialists to work with his staff on common customer service issues. Dr. Nancy Blackwelder, an international staff development specialist, visited the department during its annual in-service meetings in August to teach her class, “Dealing with Angry People.”

During this course, Blackwelder helps participants understand the nature of anger and the causes of stress and familiarizes them with early, intermediate and advanced levels of aggression. Participants also learn techniques to calm angry people and strategies to deter anger.

Knight says Blackwelder did a great job motivating the drivers, revealing that they arrived early to the second session because they were inspired from the previous day’s lecture.

Use meetings as a forum to brainstorm
In tandem with offering training for your bus drivers and office staff, it is equally important to discuss customer service during regular staff meetings.

Blanca Souders, transportation director at St. Charles (Ill.) Community Unit School District (CUSD) 303, says her drivers break up into groups at safety meetings to brainstorm ways to enhance their service to students and parents.

Souders also uses the meetings as an opportunity to remind her drivers that they are expected to review, drive and sign off on their routes to confirm that they run the way the department’s routing specialist intended. “If everything runs smoothly, that enables us to provide good customer service,” she explains.

Furthermore, she emphasizes that good customer service applies to students. Drivers are expected to treat students with respect, learn their names and greet them each morning and afternoon.

During NVUSD’s staff meetings, drivers and office personnel discuss approaches to improve intra-department communication, as well as communication with students and parents.

“Calling them ‘brainstorming’ meetings helps the office staff and drivers take ownership of their ideas,” Knight says. He also notes that the skills his employees have obtained from the people he has found through the Napa Chamber of Commerce have facilitated productive meetings.

Promptly respond to inquiries
Because much of pupil transportation officials’ communication with parents occurs over the telephone, prompt responses are essential to remaining on good terms.

For four years, BCPSS has operated two call centers. The BCPSS Command Center, managed by the district’s Information Technology department, is specifically designed to field calls and e-mails from parents to resolve their start-of-the-school-year concerns. “Issues are generally resolved the day that they’re raised,” Swift says.

To assist with transportation-related inquiries, the command center staff has access to the transportation department’s Web-based routing system, and two full-time transportation specialists have been assigned to work at the center.

The transportation department itself also has a call center (managed by the department’s assistant transportation director) where parents can obtain information and have their transportation-related concerns resolved, Swift says.

Leach relies on her memory to help parents. “We transport approximately 1,600 students, and I’m able to remember about 90 percent of their names and bus numbers,” she says. “Being able to quickly identify this information reassures families.” Additionally, Leach usually responds immediately to parents’ inquiries, which she says eliminates much of their stress.

Speaking with a stressed or irate parent is not uncommon, particularly during the first few weeks of school. Knight defuses these situations by making it clear that he will not tolerate offensive language. He also reasons with the parent, saying that in many cases, he and the caller were not there to witness what occurred during the incident in question. “That works well for me and the conversation seems to smooth out,” he reveals.

Track complaints
Documenting complaints so that they can be dealt with in a timely manner is essential to providing efficient customer service.

In January, an Illinois General Assembly public act went into effect requiring school bus operators statewide to display the owner’s telephone number on the rear of their buses; school districts and contractors must also implement a policy to investigate reports of erratic driving.

To that end, St. Charles CUSD 303’s transportation department has installed a phone line specifically for callers to report erratic driving. The department’s safety coordinator logs these calls and is required to respond to them within 24 hours.

Souders has also created a “complaint and concerns” form to help monitor her drivers’ performance. If the safety coordinator receives a call on the erratic driving line, she fills out this form. If the problem is relatively minor, she is authorized to speak with the driver to prevent further occurrences. If the problem is serious, Souders receives the form.

“I want to know what my drivers are doing, so if I receive this form, I bring in the driver and discuss the issue,” she says. “After we come up with a solution, I write it on the form and call the parents to inform them.” Souders also uses the form to track complaints received on the department’s regular telephone line.

BCPSS’ transportation department uses intake forms to document complaint calls or e-mails, which are then logged into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The department also tracks complaints through the district’s affiliation with the city’s 311 Non-Emergency Call Center, Swift says.

BCPSS students, their parents and the general public can utilize this center to resolve their transportation-related complaints, which are monitored by the district and the transportation department. Callers can also submit comments and suggestions on ways to improve the district’s transportation services.

Create an informative Website
A comprehensive Website gives parents immediate access to information and can be useful when an operation’s office staff is assisting other callers. Both NVUSD’s and St. Charles CUSD 303’s Websites list contact information for transportation department staff and address common caller concerns through a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.

“Our Website is very user-friendly and seems to help answer questions and concerns about 75 percent of the time,” Knight says. “This makes the remaining 25 percent easy to deal with.”

In addition to an FAQ page, the BCPSS transportation department’s Handbook for Parents and Guardians is posted on the district’s Website.

The handbook comprises the department’s transportation policies, students’ and parents’ responsibilities when utilizing the district’s transportation services, and the roles school administrators, bus drivers and bus attendants play in providing the service.

Establish open, personal lines of communication
Swift says the transportation department distributes a hard copy of the handbook to parents at the beginning of each school year. Similarly, Leach says her department sends an annual letter to parents informing them of its transportation policies.

“A list of all bus information is sent to the district’s elementary school teachers, and they confirm with the parents that the information is correct prior to the start of the school year,” she adds, and says that parents are also encouraged to call her if they have questions.

Distributing tangible information to parents will not only help to ease their stress, it will establish the basis for more open lines of communication, thereby enabling you and your staff to better serve them. To strengthen this communication, interact with parents face to face.

Every year since about 1997, Knight and his bus drivers have chatted with parents and students at a local town and country fair where the department displays its alternative-fuel school buses and other vehicles. During this year’s event in August, it showcased its hybrid school bus from IC Bus, and attendees had an opportunity to ask questions about the vehicle.

“Participating in the fair opens the door for our drivers to see and talk with parents and students in a different setting,” Knight explains, and adds that it helps the department’s employees spread the word about what they are working to accomplish.

In addition to distributing route information early, Souders says her district’s bus drivers are invited to attend the Early Childhood and Pre-K department’s annual open house to introduce themselves to students and parents and offer to take them on a short bus ride to help the students feel comfortable riding a school bus.

This year, Souders also plans to have her special-needs bus drivers make appointments to meet with students and their parents and offer to take them on a bus ride.

Finally, Souders’ department hosts a program in August to allow incoming kindergartners to familiarize themselves with a school bus. Buster the Bus relays safety rules to the children, and students and their parents are taken on a bus ride. The state also provides coloring books that depict the bus rules and regulations in a fun way, Souders says.

“The kids love this program — they love [Buster], and the parents seem to feel more comfortable about putting their kindergartners on the bus on the first day of school,” she adds.