First Student Provides Strong Start to School Year for South Dallas County Transportation Cooperative

DALLAS - More students in Texas than ever before are riding First Student buses this school year. The South Dallas County Transportation Cooperative has selected the company as its new transportation provider.

First Student is operating, maintaining and managing all student transportation services for the cooperative, which consists of the Cedar Hill Independent School District and the DeSoto Independent School District. Approximately 3,200 students in the districts rely on yellow bus service to get to and from school.

Cedar Hill ISD started school on August 15 and DeSoto ISD started on August 20. The now-defunct Dallas County Schools previously provided transportation in each district.

"Student safety is our foremost concern," said Bobby Laborde, assistant superintendent of DeSoto ISD. "First Student has shown an industry-leading commitment to providing safe and reliable transportation."

The cooperative has access to new resources, including First Planning Solutions. First Student's dedicated routing division develops efficient bus routes to reduce operational costs.

"We trust First Student can leverage the best practices, technologies and processes needed to deliver quality, consistent service to our families," said Kellie Spencer, deputy superintendent of Cedar Hill ISD.

First Student also added an additional safety feature to school buses. Crossing gates, which ensure students cross in front of the bus at a safe distance, are being installed on the entire fleet for both Cedar Hill ISD and DeSoto ISD.

"We're proud to have been selected to provide transportation for the South Dallas County Transportation Cooperative," said Tony Vidrine, First Student area general manager. "We will work together to make sure children in each district have a safe and reliable way to get to and from school."

More than 36,000 students in Texas are riding First Student buses this school year. The company now has seven locations in the state. First Student announced a new partnership with the Irving Independent School District earlier this year.

About First Student, Inc.
As the leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. First Student completes five million student journeys each day, moving more passengers than all U.S. airlines combined. With a team of highly-trained drivers and the industry's strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, route optimization and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services for 1,100 school district contracts. For more information, please visit firststudentinc.com.

###