IMPROVING SCHOOL TRAFFIC FLOW: A HUMAN PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT CASE STUDY
Managing the flow of people (queue management) is a crucial task for many organizations. This case study examines the traffic flow during pick up and drop off times at a public middle school in the rural southeastern U.S. using a Human Performance Improvement (HPI) framework to address the problem of traffic backups when dropping off and picking up students. Environmental analysis revealed that carpool procedures were not well known and staff were underutilized. Recommendations included job aids and signage to inform parents of traffic procedures, efficient scheduling and use of school space, and utilization of the staff to assist with the carpool lane.
Four graduate students in the Human Performance Technology (HPT) class in the Cato College of Education of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (“the team”) addressed a persistent carpool line congestion issue at a southeastern U.S. middle school in order to mitigate the problem while applying HPT models and practicing analysis methods.
INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT
Problem Statement
Administrators, staff members, and students at Jefferson Hill Middle School (JHMS; a pseudonym) cannot report to school on time due to traffic flow problems they experience both in front of the school and along the main road where the school is located. Community members are also impacted due to the congestion blocking the road. The principal (headmaster) has not been successful in modifying the carpool line. The traffic continues to be clogged, branching over a mile (1.6 kilometers) in each direction. As the sole supervisor of the carpool line, if the principal does not arrive at work on time, the system is halted and traffic stops.
The principal, as the primary client, perceives this as a performance problem because it interferes with employees’ ability to arrive at work for contracted hours. It also creates a situation where students are left unattended if teachers cannot get into their classrooms due to the traffic backup. The students range in age from 11 to 14 and they require adequate supervision. If students are unattended, this directly interferes with the school’s ability to provide a safe and orderly environment, which can lead to unnecessary behavioral incidents.
Purpose of the Project
The primary purpose of the project was to assess the current state of the carpool line, the optimal performance identified by the school’s stakeholders, and the barriers against a timely, efficiently-run, and safe carpool line. This project aimed to determine the causes of the backed-up carpool line and propose interventions to remediate the problem. The client would like the carpool line to be a safe, orderly, and efficient process from which students, parents, and staff benefit. (Note that the vehicle driver is referred to as the parent throughout, but it is recognized that the driver may be a guardian, a family member, a friend, or even a hired driver.)
LITERATURE REVIEW
News reports, popular literature, and blogs are rife with articles about the issue of long car drop-off and pickup lines at schools in the U.S. (Della Costa, 2023; Dishongh, 2017; Kurzyna, 2021; Schmitt, 2023), especially at the beginning of the school year. They universally express frustration with the situation.
The Atlantic Magazine acknowledges that, “Car lines are a classic tragedy-of-the-commons problem: Every parent acting in their perceived self-interest … makes us collectively worse off in the form of dirtier air, increased traffic, less human connection, and more frustration” (Schmitt, 2023, para. 2). The result can be chaotic: parents ignore the rules, parents and children are unprepared or linger, and many parents arrive up to an hour early in the mornings and afternoons, with resulting long lines of traffic (Dishongh, 2017; Kurzyna, 2021). Long school bus rides, concerns about school bus safety, and post-pandemic school bus driver shortages appear to bias parents toward driving their children to school (Della Costa, 2023; Schmitt, 2023). In 2017, 54% of children in the U.S. were driven to school in private vehicles and the percentage appears to be rising (Chen, 2023).
Transportation, public health, geography and urban planning, policing, and education researchers, particularly in Canada and the U.S., have been investigating the same issue for years (Bradshaw, 1996; Cooner, 2005, 2009; La Vigne, 2007; Liu et al., 2022; McCaleb et al., 2023; Rafiq & Mitra, 2020; Rothman et al., 2021; Tsai et al. 2004; von Bartheld et al., 2011).
According to Bradshaw (1996), parents who choose to take their children by car cite distance, road safety concerns, child safety concerns, parental choice of school, linkages to work commutes, and child and parent peer group pressure or expectation as the most common reasons for choosing this method over busing, walking, or bicycling.
Rafiq and Mitra (2020) concluded that travel distance is one of the major determinants of carpooling. McCaleb et al. (2023) also note that the distance between home and school has been increasing over time. They highlight that, “a school site’s capacity for managing traffic during intensive, peak intervals is a traffic safety issue that has efficiency and safety implications for all…” (p. 10).
Rothman et al. (2021) found that lower student population density was associated with a decline in walking and bicycling to school. They caution that, “Diversity across schools and cities, not only in the built environment, but also in travel culture, attitudes and preferences, emphasizes the need for local solutions to school travel challenges” (p. 7).
Cooner (2005, 2009) emphasized the importance of on-site supervision of vehicle traffic by staff members. Similar conclusions were reached by von Bartheld et al. (2011). In a case study investigating the impact of school personnel directing traffic on the drop-off capacity of an urban elementary school, they found a 21.7% increase in drop-off capacity during peak times when school personnel directed traffic. They concluded that personnel directing traffic is a cost-effective way to enhance drop-off capacity in schools facing spatial or financial constraints for major structural improvements.
La Vigne (2007), in a research-based guide for policing, identifies key stakeholders in this issue, including police, parents, school administrators and teachers, local residents and other commuters, local transportation and planning departments, school bus companies, and school boards. The study also notes that solutions are likely to be site-specific: “It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses” (p. 25). The study cautions against relying on law enforcement to reduce or eliminate the problem as that has limited effectiveness; instead, school staff, teachers, and parents need to be critical participants in any solution. La Vigne recommends educating parents, encouraging carpooling, and redesigning drop-off and pickup times and procedures.
A study of traffic at 20 elementary schools during peak afternoon times (Tsai et al., 2004) found that the 60% of carpool vehicles arriving before school dismissal spent triple the time compared to those arriving shortly after the bell.
METHODOLOGY
Frameworks
Van Tiem et al.’s (2012) Performance Improvement/HPT model was used to frame the project steps. Grant and Moseley’s (1999) Customer-Focused Performance Analysis Model guided the project’s data collection and analysis phases. The model influenced the emphasis on a customer-centric perspective when analyzing performance issues. Gathering the viewpoints and experiences of various stakeholders, including parents, staff, and the school community, was prioritized.
Data Collection
Before beginning to collect data, the team determined the individuals and groups who would have insight into the carpool lines. From there, they determined how to collect data for each person or group and what questions to ask to get the needed information. The methods employed for data collection encompassed a multifaceted approach in order to triangulate the data. Surveys, interviews, internet sources review, other extant data review, and observations were selected as data collection methods. Google Form surveys were distributed to school staff, parents, community members, the principal, and school board members to elicit opinions and insights. This facilitated the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data, allowing the team to assess wait times, determine attitudes, and collect suggestions about the carpool line.
Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to understand their experiences and perspectives, including the School Resource Officer, a certified law enforcement officer assigned to JHMS who provides support in the carpool line, and the assistant principal, who manages the buses.
Online research was conducted to gather the school’s demographic and organizational information and provide contextual information relevant to the report. Secondary sources were explored to gain a theoretical framework for the analysis. Accident reports on the main road outside JHMS and existing school safety procedures were researched.
Data were collected on bus routes, walking times, crosswalk locations, and school resources. This data proved instrumental in comprehending the physical and logistical aspects of the carpool line and its potential improvements. The school administration provided bus routes and rosters for analysis of the population of each bus. In addition, a survey of the school’s physical surroundings analyzed the feasibility of student walkers in surrounding neighborhoods.
On-site observations were conducted to gain practical insights into the operation of the carpool line and the layout of the school parking lot. This hands-on approach allowed the team to identify real-world issues and challenges that may not be immediately apparent through other data collection methods. The number of vehicles during ten-minute increments was observed and counted to better understand the timeframe in which the congestion occurred.
By implementing these frameworks, models, and methods, the team’s approach to data collection and analysis was structured and comprehensive, addressing both the human and environmental factors that affect the performance of the carpool lane.
Limitations
Despite the wide array of individuals asked to participate in surveys, the team received limited responses from parents and community members. Only 11 parents of the 436 students responded to the survey. The community members were polled via a Facebook post which was shared by others but it only generated seven responses. Only one of three board members responded. This lack of participation caused the data to represent only a small portion of the population affected by the carpool line. Integral stakeholders, such as the superintendent and assistant superintendent of the school board, were unavailable for comment. Due to conflicting schedules and workloads, the school administration was not consistently available for additional comments or questions.
The survey was sent to all staff members (n = 52); 23 (44.2%) responded. Although the majority of staff members start work at 7:30 a.m., there are some staff members who start work earlier or later or who do not work at the school five days a week. Since the responses were anonymous, it is impossible to tell whether any of the latter groups responded to the survey. Their responses may have skewed the results, but likely would have underestimated the challenges presented by the carpool traffic congestion.
ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
Background of the Organization
JHMS serves a largely rural county in the American southeast. The average daily student attendance is 436, with 115 bus riders, two walkers, no bicyclers, and 319 carpoolers arriving at the school daily; 73.1% of the students arrive by personal vehicle. The school’s rural location leads to the need for transportation, primarily by buses and cars. Homes are spread out, necessitating bus routes that begin up to two hours before school starts. These factors lead to most students arriving at school in the carpool line rather than walking, bicycling, or taking a school bus. Other local schools, which share the same road, face similar problems, leading to increased congestion throughout the community.
As a result [of carpool line congestion], staff members arriving to work late create a potentially unsafe and disorderly school environment. According to a staff survey, 34.7% report being late to work at least one day a week due to traffic from the carpool line.
Additionally, 30.4% of staff members report adjusting their arrival time due to the carpool line to arrive on time and provide student supervision.
Vision
The school vision is to provide a safe, orderly, and inviting environment where students and educators can celebrate academic, social, and personal success. Regrettably, the current traffic congestion situation challenges the ability of JHMS to realize the vision.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
External Factors
Road Design
The school is located on a rural, two-lane road with a left turn lane providing access to the school from the south. The turn lane holds approximately eight cars and does little to alleviate the traffic on the main road. A sidewalk is available from the school’s main entrance to the bus entrance. Outside the school sidewalk, the closest alternative walking path is about half a mile (0.8 kilometer) away, an approximately 13-minute walk for children. The two-lane road is the main thoroughfare for the surrounding communities and is a highly-traveled roadway. The nearest through intersections to the school are 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers) south and 0.9 miles (1.4 kilometers) north of the school. Liu et al. (2022) note that the distance to a major intersection compounds school traffic congestion. Further, the lack of sidewalks along this road makes it unsafe for students to walk or bicycle to and from school.
Neighborhood Schools
Within two miles (3.2 kilometers) of JHMS there are a high school and an elementary school. A daycare is less than half a mile (0.8 kilometer) away, between JHMS and the high school and elementary school. Two additional feeder schools for the middle school are located within five miles (8 kilometers).
Bus Processes and Route Information
Buses for JHMS begin routes as early as 5:30 a.m. and arrive at their first stop by 6:00 a.m. The buses are shared by both middle and high school student riders simultaneously. Responses to the parent survey noted that there is currently a bus driver shortage in the county, which causes the routes to be inconsistent. In addition, respondents indicated that the bus routes can be long, with students spending up to an hour on the bus. This extends the school day and reduces the time spent at home.
Parent Behavior
Parent survey responses on transportation options to JHMS reveal a range of perspectives. Some prefer driving their students due to proximity or routine. Others find carpooling challenging due to distance or limited opportunity to partner with other parents. Concerns about bus transportation include driver shortages, irregular schedules, and negative perceptions. Parents’ drop-off timing is influenced by varied factors: managing schedules, coordinating multiple school drop-offs, and navigating traffic conditions. Efficiency in the carline is a key concern, with disparities between morning and afternoon procedures creating inconsistency and frustration among parents.
Furthermore, parents shared insights on dropping off and picking up at multiple schools, carpooling to streamline schedules, and the impact on morning routines. Views on the efficiency of carpool lines at JHMS compared to other schools varied; while some saw no significant improvements elsewhere, others praised one of the feeder elementary school’s efficient line. Despite concerns about JHMS’s carpool line extending onto the road, it was considered more efficient than the two other elementary schools’ lines, reflecting the complex dynamics and concerns among parents about transportation logistics.
Parents begin lining up in the carpool line in the mornings about 7:00 a.m. This is 30 minutes before students are allowed into the building and an hour before classes start; this causes the carpool line to snake out into the road by 7:25 a.m. or earlier. Observations of the carpool line found that there were, on average, ten vehicles in line between 7:00 and 7:10 a.m., 21 vehicles cars between 7:10 and 7:20 a.m., and 43 vehicles in line between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m. At 7:30, the line begins to move and vehicles enter and exit very quickly, with an average of 25 vehicles flowing through every 10 minutes.
Community Impact
When asked whether the traffic flow at JHMS impacted the community members’ daily commute, 40% of those who answered the survey said that it did. Sixty percent of community members said there is no other route to avoid traffic at the school. They stated that taking this route adds up to 15 minutes to their commute and the same percentage stated that the traffic flow at JHMS sometimes makes them late.
Safety
When the line is backed up onto the main road, it causes congestion and makes it difficult for first responders to access the school promptly. Staff members report that their classrooms are sometimes unsupervised when they are late, which leads to safety concerns inside the school.
Internal Factors
Job Tasks and Processes
At the beginning of the school year, teachers are assigned to demonstrate the procedures to students and parents as they go through the carpool line. No formal training, instruction, or communication is provided to parents outside of signaling when and where they are allowed to unload their students. In addition, after the beginning of the school year, there is no information provided to newly enrolled students and there is no information about the carpool line available to parents online. According to survey, 100% of parents indicated that they understood and followed the carpool procedures, although they have never been formally provided this information.
After the first two weeks, the teachers are released from their duties and the principal is the sole person responsible for the carpool line. However, three teachers are assigned to carpool duty in the afternoon, including a staff member calling out student names to streamline the process. The School Resource Officer manages traffic at the flagpole. Meanwhile, the principal supervises student behavior, notifies them about incoming vehicles, and helps ensure their attention and safety.
Several factors influenced the principal’s personal decision to manage the carpool line personally. It is both a common practice and feasible for the principal to run the carpool line at the middle school level in the mornings. The principal explained that middle school students are relatively self-sufficient, making it manageable for one person to oversee the process. There was no indicated need for additional staff members, although there was an acknowledgment that additional teachers could be a means of support.
Carpool Procedures
The parking lot is U-shaped (Figure 1), guiding parents into double lanes that merge into a single lane, with—when everything is working correctly—every other vehicle joining the main lane when approaching the curve. Safety is ensured by not allowing parents to pass one another. The carpool line is adjacent to a sidewalk, and drivers drive up to the flagpole to load or unload the children.
Citation: Performance Improvement Journal 63, 2; 10.56811/PFI-24-0003
When asked for possible causes of the current problem, the principal pointed to the early arrival of cars, causing the initial line and creating congestion within the parking lot and out into the road.
Written Procedures
Parents have stated that they know the procedures for the carpool line, although there are no written procedures. There are no available reference points for parents to access if they are uncertain about procedures and expectations.
Staff Stress
Staff members said they must arrive earlier to avoid carpool line traffic, which causes stress and frustration. Forty-three percent of the staff arrive at or before 7:15 a.m., when their contracted hours start at 7:30 a.m. In addition, more than a third note that they are late at least once a week due to the traffic from the carpool line. Most staff want to avoid being involved in carpool duty for various reasons. Salaried employees do not receive overtime pay for the extra time they work beyond the contracted hours.
GAP ANALYSIS
Data collected in the organizational and environmental analyses helped identify the following the four primary performance gaps. Due to the nature of the problem, the current and optimal states are not readily quantifiable. As often happens in human performance technology projects, the goal is an imprecise improvement. However, if the traffic congestion and related issues are successfully improved or resolved, the school’s environment and daily operations would undergo several positive changes.
Traffic Flow
The most noticeable change would be the smooth traffic flow during drop-off hours. Parents would arrive at the school at or after 7:30 a.m., ensuring that students are not lining up early. This would significantly reduce road congestion and eliminate the need for staff members to arrive early to avoid traffic.
Currently, parents begin lining up in the carpool line in the mornings at 7:00 a.m. This is 30 minutes before students are allowed into the building and causes the line to snake out into the road by 7:25 a.m. or earlier.
Stress
An improvement would mean that parents and staff members experience reduced stress levels as they no longer have to rush or endure long wait times in traffic. Teachers would have more time to prepare for their classes, and parents would have a less hectic start to their day. Community members would benefit because they could get to where they are going on time without waiting in traffic.
Currently, staff members said they must arrive up to 45 minutes earlier to avoid carpool line traffic, which causes stress and frustration. Community members get caught in the traffic surrounding the school and cannot make it to their destinations on time.
Safety
A positive improvement would make the school a safer place in case of emergencies. First responders would have clear access to the school, ensuring a quicker response in critical situations. Students would be supervised inside the school, promoting a safe and orderly environment. Improved traffic flow would make the school safer, both inside and outside, which directly reflects the school’s vision.
Instead, due to the traffic congestion, there is no way for first responders to access the school in case of an emergency during drop off and pickup times. Staff members report that their classrooms are unsupervised when they are late, which leads to safety concerns inside the school.
Knowledge of Procedures
A shared knowledge and understanding of procedures among stakeholders would allow for better performance and ownership of the processes involved in the carpool line, creating a better experience for everyone involved—a more orderly, efficient, and safe school environment. That would enhance the wellbeing of both students and staff, reduce stress for parents, and strengthen the sense of community cooperation. While parents have stated that they know the procedures for the carpool line, individual decisions are made within the line, adding to the carpool line’s overall congestion.
Impact of Suboptimal Performance
Suboptimal performance impacts the school’s mission to provide a safe and orderly environment by creating a potentially disorderly and unsafe environment inside the school where students are not adequately supervised. Likewise, the environment outside the school becomes unsafe, as the traffic backups lead to increased risks for accidents. Emergency services are impacted as well since the roadway is blocked. The traffic gridlock has a ripple effect, which causes a traffic flow problem within the small, rural community. All stakeholders involved experience frustration and stress due to the impact of the suboptimal performance in the carpool line, as routines are disrupted and extended wait times make people late for work, school, or appointments. Overall, a poorly managed carpool line can damage the school’s reputation and the staff.
CAUSE ANALYSIS
Several factors impact the overall ineffectiveness of the carpool line at JHMS (Figure 2).
The main factors that are creating the gap between actual and optimal performance can be grouped into four main categories: a large number of car riders, arrival times, local schools, and procedures.
Citation: Performance Improvement Journal 63, 2; 10.56811/PFI-24-0003
The school has a large number of car riders.
- ○
All parent respondents noted a refusal to allow their children to use bus transportation. Reasons for this included behavior issues, long route times, and inconsistent driver availability due to a driver shortage. Parents were also concerned that middle school students must ride the bus with high school students.
- ○
The area surrounding the school is not conducive to having students walk or ride their bicycles to school. There are no sidewalks, and the two-lane road is a busy thoroughfare. This leads to students relying on private or bus transportation.
- ○
The school has some students who do not live inside the district lines; private transportation is the only means of travel for these students.
Parents arrive early to the carpool line.
- ○
Cars begin lining up at the school up to half an hour before the line starts moving. Parents noted in the survey that this was due to several factors, including the need to be in other places simultaneously.
- ○
The traffic backs up before the line begins moving but tapers off as time passes. The line moves quickly once it starts moving at 7:30 a.m.
Local schools cause scheduling conflicts.
- ○
All five of the local schools have identical start times. Parents with children at other schools must prioritize drop-off times to avoid student tardiness. Parents without students at JHMS still use the road in front of the school to take their children to their respective schools.
- ○
The five local schools are all within five miles (8 kilometers) of each other. JHMS is within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of two of the schools. Each school faces similar carpool problems due to the proximity of the other schools.
There is a lack of written procedures.
- ○
There are no written procedures for parents or staff regarding the carpool line. If parents are new to the line, there are no written instructions or job aids available to show them the procedural expectations.
- ○
There is a lack of signage in the carpool line. Parents have to identify what to do by watching others. Nothing is in place to denote when or how to merge into one line or where the drop-off zone begins and ends.
While the team also acknowledges that the number of lanes in the main road and the school traffic layout are causal factors, addressing them is beyond the scope of the project and is likely to be a multi-year undertaking with significant financial and political challenges.
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT INTERVENTION RECOMMENDATIONS
The following interventions are recommended to mitigate or eliminate the carpool line performance gaps. They are prioritized based on the feasibility analysis below.
Intervention #1: Job-Aid Creation
The first recommendation is to create a job aid that details the procedures for the carpool line, including expectations for school arrival. This ensures a collective understanding of the procedures to maintain order and efficiency in the carpool process. The job aid should be sent home with all students. In addition, the job aid should be posted on the school website and shared on all official social media sites, allowing for quick dissemination of information to a large audience at little to no cost. The goal is to increase standardization of carpool line procedures and ensure that parents have easy access to the line rules. This intervention is ranked first as it provides clarity and standardization, is easily accessible, and is cost-effective.
Intervention #2: Signage
The second recommendation is to create carpool ground signs that indicate where to begin unloading, pulling forward, and the carpool timeline. This would include three signs posted in the ground with spikes, 5 feet apart, expanding the entire U-shaped carpool line. These signs will provide clear instructions reinforcing the carpool procedures while parents are in line. This intervention is second as it provides visual reinforcement of procedures and repeats key messages and expectations.
The success of the first two recommendations heavily depends on the compliance of parents with the instructions in the job aid and on the signs.
Intervention #3: Staff Reporting Times
The third recommendation is to amend current staff reporting times from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to 7:20 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. This would allow for appropriate supervision of students in the morning and for the staff to arrive at school before the peak of the carpool line traffic. Survey data show a 51% increase in cars arriving between 7:20 and 7:30 am. Changing reporting times to 7:20 a.m. would allow teachers to access their parking spots and the building without being caught in the carpool line. This intervention is intended to help alleviate stress on the staff. This intervention is ranked third as it is a data-driven approach demonstrating a responsiveness to observed patterns while providing a solution consistent with the needs and preferences of staff.
Intervention #4: Carpool Duty
The fourth recommendation is to amend the staff duty schedule. This intervention involves leveraging the support of staff members in non-student-facing roles to assist with line management during busy periods. This would include ensuring parents adhere to the rules of the carpool line and directing traffic on the street during peak carpool times. This proactive measure alleviates congestion by facilitating a continuous traffic flow for a specified period. Adding these staff duties would improve overall traffic dynamics and create a more organized and expedient experience for parents and students. This intervention is ranked fourth as it can immediately reduce congestion, facilitating a continuous traffic flow and reducing wait times for parents and students; it utilizes existing resources—staff not responsible for a homeroom in the morning; and it aligns with the school’s commitment to prioritizing the well-being of students, parents, and staff and creating a safer environment. However, some staff are opposed to carpool duty.
Intervention #5: Student Holding Pattern
The fifth recommendation addresses the need for parents to drop off students earlier in the morning due to multiple drop-offs or work commitments and would alleviate the number of cars starting the carpool line before 7:30 a.m. In the morning, students will be instructed to gather in the cafeteria as early as 7:00 a.m., where staff members supervise them until 7:25 a.m. This structured approach ensures continuous supervision during the critical transition period. Moreover, this arrangement encourages parents who arrive early to efficiently drop off their students in the cafeteria rather than queuing up in anticipation of the official start of the school day. This strategy contributes to a smoother morning routine, enhancing student safety and overall logistical efficiency. This intervention should decrease staff members’ stress and their need to arrive before their contracted time. This intervention would reduce early queuing and keep the queue flowing once the school opens and, at the same time, provide safe student supervision during the early drop-off times. However, it might require some staff arriving even earlier than noted above.
Stakeholder Involvement
Stakeholder involvement is essential because it integrates diverse perspectives, ensuring the solutions to challenges like the morning carpool line issues at JHMS are well-informed and broadly accepted. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of shared ownership, transparency, and trust, aligning interventions with the needs and expectations of the entire school community for more effective and sustainable outcomes (Grant & Moseley, 1999).
School administrators: The principal will play a central role in implementing interventions. The principal needs to support all of the recommendations. They will lead the communication efforts to inform parents about the revised drop-off policy and ensure its enforcement. Both the principal and vice-principal will collaborate with staff to address concerns and gather feedback during implementation.
Parents of students: Parents will be actively engaged through newsletters, social media, and the school website to educate them about the new drop-off policy. Social media and in-person school events can be used to collect parent feedback before and after implementing interventions.
Staff members: Staff members can be involved in planning by seeking their input on the proposed changes. The school should also establish a communication channel for staff to report any issues encountered during the implementation phase.
Rejected Interventions
A proposed but rejected intervention was to change the start times of the local schools to a more staggered approach. This is not within the school’s control and has to be approved and implemented at the school board level. There are many factors that must be balanced, including the need for buses to adhere to a strict schedule that delivers students to the local high school, which is a half-hour away. According to the client, this proposal was discussed this past summer and the school board leadership deemed it infeasible.
In addition to the signs located on school grounds, an intervention was proposed: an additional sign would be posted to alert the community about the increase in traffic during the school week. This intervention was rejected due to the county approval that would be required to place a sign outside of school grounds.
As noted previously, increasing the number of lanes in the main road and altering the school traffic layout are beyond the scope of the project and is likely to be a multi-year project with significant financial and political challenges.
Mitigating Other Causes
Controlling the time parents enter the carpool line cannot be easily solved. These stakeholders are not school employees and there are no consequences for not adhering to procedural expectations. Job aids can be shared with parents, but ultimately, this factor can only be addressed by helping parents to understand and encouraging them to follow expectations.
The problems parent respondents cited with the bus situation cannot be readily solved either. Too few buses or drivers exist to separate high- and middle-school students. The driver shortage is another factor outside the school’s control; schools nationwide face personnel shortages (NEA Today, 2023).
Feasibility Analysis
A feasibility analysis (Table 1), adapted from Watkins et al.’s (2012) multicriteria analysis, was completed to determine the interventions to be implemented and their priority. The client deemed cost, ease of implementation, and availability of resources as the determining factors of feasibility for proposed interventions, weighted approximately equally. The highest scores represent the interventions with combined lowest cost, the most straightforward implementation, and the easiest available resources. Sustainability was also factored into the analysis, with the highest score of three representative of an intervention that could easily be implemented and maintained year-over-year, with lasting results.
The strategies proposed collectively target various aspects of the carpool process, combining procedural, logistical, and communication approaches to foster amore organized and efficient systemthatmaintains students’, parents’, and staff’s emotional and physical well-being and safety.
CONCLUSION
This human performance improvement project investigating JHMS’s carpool line challenges revealed several external and internal factors contributing to traffic congestion and safety concerns. The identified gaps, ranging from early parent arrivals to the lack of formal procedures and standards, present a clear need for intervention to optimize the overall efficiency and safety of the carpool process. The recommended interventions, encompassing clear communication, strategic signage, adjusted staff schedules, and targeted parent engagement, offer a holistic approach to addressing these challenges. The successful implementation of these interventions holds the promise of transforming the carpool line into a seamless and safe operation and positively impacting the broader school community. The collaboration with JHMS is anticipated to bring about positive changes that align with stakeholders’ vision and contribute to a safer more conducive learning environment for everyone involved.
LESSONS-LEARNED AND REFLECTIONS
Assumptions
Throughout this human performance intervention project, the team had to ensure that assumptions were not made about probable causes of traffic congestion within and around the carpool line. A conscious effort was made to rely solely on concrete data and evidence rather than speculation. Through continuous reflection and conversations, revisions were implemented to ensure that all statements included within the report were firmly grounded in data. An example of this was the consideration that the surge in carpool riders might be attributed to the increase of stay-at-home workers in the aftermath of COVID-19. Despite this plausible hypothesis, no explicit data led to this conclusion, so it was excluded from the final report.
Feasibility and Issue Mitigation and Solution
At the beginning of developing solutions and interventions for the client, several proposals were devised that had the potential to alleviate the gridlock within the carpool line. Suggestions included widening the roads surrounding the school or adjusting the start times of the neighboring schools. These strategies held promise, and there was substantial data to back up their validity. However, they were not feasible solutions that could be implemented at the school level. Widening the roads would have allowed smoother traffic flow through the area but would have required financial and political backing. Similarly, coordinating school start times would have required cooperation between several entities and a potential disruption to established routines for students and families in the district. Acknowledging these restrictions, the team focused on potential solutions that could be implemented within the school’s operational framework.
Survey Creation
During the analysis phase, surveys were created for parents, community members, administration, and key stakeholders to elicit their insight and concerns about the carpool line. These surveys were explicitly crafted for each group as a way to collect a variety of perspectives. Upon completion and thorough analysis of the responses garnered it became evident that there were areas of the problem that the questions failed to address. Additionally, some questions were thought of after the surveys had been completed. There were several instances where an answer to a question led the team to consider different approaches and avenues concerning managing the carpool line. This process emphasized the significance of creating broad and well-rounded surveys that touch on all aspects of the situation and having a plan for when additional information needs to be collected from stakeholders.
School Traffic Layout
Cause Analysis “Fishbone” Diagram
Contributor Notes
TRINICA STEVENS SHUMATE has a B.A. in Elementary Education and Teaching from Lees-McRae College and an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has been a teacher for 18 years, teaching all subjects from fourth to seventh grade. She is currently a seventh-grade English Language Arts educator. Email: trinicacarpenter@gmail.com
KATHERINE N. HALLORAN has a B.A. in Middle Grades Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has been a mathematics educator for nine years. Email: khallor2@charlotte.edu
MYRLENE V. S. REID has a B.A. in Special Education and an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has over seven years of teaching experience. She is currently the Learning and Growth Administrator for an environmental consulting company, aiding in the instructional design of employee learning opportunities. Email: mreid26@charlotte.edu
BRIAN J. FLYNN is a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has an M.A. in Technical and Professional Communications from East Carolina University and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Brian has taught college English for 13 years and is currently a faculty member at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC. He has served in multiple leadership positions within the department, contributing to the development and implementation of the English department’s curriculum. Email: brianjflynn@midlandstech.edu
DONALD L. KIRKEY, Ed.D. is an associate graduate faculty member in the Cato College of Education of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches graduate courses in Human Performance Technology. He is also an adjunct graduate faculty member in the Batterman School of Business of Concordia University Wisconsin. He received his doctorate in Organizational Leadership (Human Resource Development specialization) from Nova Southeastern University. He worked for 30 years assessing and developing employees and leaders and supporting major change and performance improvement initiatives in large companies in Canada and the U.S. He is currently the Principal Consultant for the Trinity Creek Group, a consulting group focused on strategic leadership development, organizational development, and workforce learning and performance improvement. Email: don.kirkey@trinitycreekconsulting.com
