Dear NOLA-PS Community,

I wanted to get back to you as promised by the end of this month with an update on the progress we have been making on school bus safety. As of today, we have received corrective action plans from every school in the district and of the 13 organizations that were cited, five are now in compliance.

As we continue to work to ensure our children get to school and back safely each day, our schools are holding their bus vendors accountable and those vendors are making steady progress to make sure their fleets meet the city’s inspection standards.

Looking ahead, we have also made progress in identifying a varied set of individuals, including representatives from schools, city agencies, and bus providers, to participate in a working group whose purpose is to identify long term transportation solutions across the district. This group is planned to convene for the first time on February 7, 2020. I have asked that initial recommendations be provided to me no later than April 17, 2020.

Together we are making progress with our oversight efforts and I remain committed to ensuring our schools are compliant with the city's transportation inspection standards. Our children’s lives are too precious to not have 100% compliance on these matters.

In service,

Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.