Tools, Compliance, and Best Practices
Transportation
Budget/Funding
Safety, Planning, Communication
Planning, Communication
Budget/Funding, Safety, Planning, Legislation, Communication
Budget/Funding, Planning, Safety
Budget/Funding
Safety
Budget/Funding, Legislation
Additional Resources
Transportation: Ensuring Fair Access and Travel
An EAC guide for reviewing bus routes and policies to confirm that no group of students bears a disproportionate burden, such as longer ride times. This process helps districts identify disparities in access and ensure transportation systems support desegregation goals.
Access to Special Education and Transportation in the District of Columbia
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ D.C. Advisory Committee announced a 2024 report examining access to special education, including how transportation affects student opportunity and compliance with civil rights protections.
Success Stories
Hendry County School District (Florida) - Partial Unitary Status Granted (2017)
A federal court declared the district partially unitary in four Desegregation Indicator areas, including transportation. The order notes “no evidence of discrimination” in student assignment between schools, transportation, facilities, or extracurricular activities, and confirms the district “provides transportation to students in a non-segregative and non-discriminatory manner.”
Success Stories
Richland Parish School Board (Louisiana) - Partial Unitary Status in Transportation (2013)
After DOJ review and site visits, the court entered a consent order declaring unitary status in transportation, facilities, and extracurricular activities. The findings state bus routes were devised on geographic, non-racial grounds and had been operated non-discriminatorily for more than three years. Resource Link
LEGAL
Transportation: Access, Safety, and Compliance
Transportation is a key desegregation indicator used to evaluate whether districts are meeting desegregation obligations. Bus routes, resource allocation, and policy enforcement directly affect students’ access to integrated schools and programs. Districts must ensure transportation practices do not perpetuate segregation and that all students have safe, reliable, and equitable access to learning. This section provides guidance, examples, and strategies to help leaders review systems, address disparities, and comply with legal mandates on the path to unitary status.