MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Students at Marco Island Charter Middle School (MICMS) will finally have a school bus again after weeks without public transportation.
In June, Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) stopped providing bus service to them, so the school has opted to purchase two brand new buses of their own.
“I think this is a great step forward for the school and for our families here,” said Principal Margo Heidenreich, who had been working for weeks on a solution.
Watch to see why the school did not have a school bus for weeks:
On Tuesday, the two new buses arrived on campus to cheering students. That's because it is the first time the school is seeing a bus on campus since the start of the school year.
“We decided the best thing for our families and our school, to grow, was to purchase our own buses,” Heidenreich explained. “That’s exactly what we’ve done. We were able to get three buses, finance them, and find a couple of drivers. We feel really good moving forward with starting bus service next week. I’m excited."
Heidenreich said CCPS had been busing students for over 25 years, but the district sent them an email last year saying it could no longer offer the service.
Fox 4 reached out to the school district, which provided the following statement:
Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) provided bus transportation services to Marco Island Charter Middle School (MICMS) through an annual agreement that expired on June 30, 2024. CCPS continues to experience a shortage of bus drivers, making it impossible to continue the transportation service contract. It’s important to understand that charter schools are independently operated. Florida Statutes allow charter schools to contract with a school district, private provider, or parents for transportation. In November 2023, CCPS notified MICMS that we would not be able to renew the contract, giving them ample time to make other transportation arrangements or inform their parents.
MICMS currently has around 300 students, with approximately 100 relying on bus transportation.
"We had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what we were going to do for families that rely on transportation," Heidenreich said.
The school believes buying the buses outright is a permanent solution. It plans to start transporting students on October 1.
"We'll be able to provide morning and afternoon bus service, field trips all the things we've previously hired other companies for, we'll now be able to do ourselves," Heidenreich added.
