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Miami-Dade County School Board member Luisa Santos, during the meeting on Dec. 17, 2025, proffered agenda item H-8 reaffirming the board’s commitment to supporting the needs of every child by adopting the “ROAD (Routes Opening Access to Dreams) Transportation Policy Framework,” as outlined in the item.
“Ensuring every student can get to school safely and reliably is a top priority,” Santos said.
“The ROAD Transportation Policy Framework will help us address current challenges and prepare for the future so that every student, including those in specialized programs, has full access to learning opportunities.”
The item directs the superintendent of schools to:
1. Conduct a comprehensive review of current student transportation practices aligned with the ROAD Transportation Policy Framework, including but not limited to:
• A cost-benefit analysis of current eligibility thresholds, courtesy busing, and walk zone policies to determine how they impact access to foundational, magnet, and choice-based education programs;
• An operational review of current routing efficiency, including but not limited to analysis of average bus occupancy, total miles traveled per student, on-time performance, scheduling structure, and opportunities to reduce non-service travel through more effective route design and vehicle assignment, along with a root-cause analysis and corrective action plans to address any operational issues;
• A workforce capacity assessment that evaluates the district’s recruitment, compensation, retention, and training practices for all transportation department employees (including but not limited to school bus drivers, school bus aids, dispatchers, trainers, mechanics, etc.) alongside a review ofnational and peer district benchmarks;
• A review of the district’s current transportation fleet and infrastructure, emissions output, and existing partnerships with municipalities or public transit providers;
• A communications and engagement review that catalogs how families, schools, and drivers receive transportation updates, request support, or submit feedback;
• An assessment of district capacity to build and maintain an internal interactive dashboard that reports operational metrics (on-time performance, missed routes, driver vacancies), equity indicators (ridership by student subgroup), and efficiency benchmarks (fuel usage, fleet composition), and
• Evaluate the facility, technology, and staffing investments required to support implementation of the above priorities, and the estimated capital and operational resources needed to do so.
2. Present findings and recommendations aligned with the five policy pillars at the Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee Meeting on Apr. 15.
To read the full item, visit https://luisasantos.com/priorities/.
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