Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Milwaukee Public Schools is taking a new approach to help students facing housing insecurity tackle one of the hurdles of getting to school. This year, a new fleet of 20 minivans will provide students without permanent housing an easy way to get to class.
About 5,000 MPS students faced housing insecurity during the 2024–25 school year. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act requires that students be allowed to stay in their same school and that they receive transportation.
MPS minivans will be more nimble than traditional yellow school buses with assigned routes. Each minivan will transport up to four students, giving the drivers flexibility on when and where to pick up students.
“We must do whatever it takes to get all our students to school, and all means all,” said Superintendent Brenda Cassellius. “Our schools can’t solve homelessness, but MPS is thinking outside the box to ensure dignity, respect, and stability, so displaced students can focus on their learning and their futures. Not having a ride to school is a problem we can help solve.”
Youth homelessness can mean a variety of things—students might be living with a friend’s family or sharing an apartment with grandparents. Home might be transitional housing or an emergency shelter. A handful of students choose to live on their own after turning 18, or they may not have a choice.
MPS’s Homeless Education Program (HEP) makes stability a priority by keeping students in their current school and coordinating emergency supplies, academic support, and other services as needed, including transportation.
Vans with a vision
Minivans provide a comfortable, discreet, and low-stress commute between a student’s school and temporary residence. Trained and insured drivers, cameras, GPS navigation, and first aid kits are part of the pilot package — and are features of every MPS transportation service.
“Drivers get to know students better,” said Business and Financial Services Director David Fifarek. “There’s a different level of connection with families. It’s more coordinated and there’s an opportunity for dialogue between families and drivers.”
More innovation is on the way for MPS transportation. During the 2025–26 school year, 120-plus electric school buses will roll onto MPS lots, financed by federal rebates and grants. Families can use WheresTheBus, a bus-tracking app that launched last year. WheresTheBus is free and accessible on any Internet-enabled device.
Cost savings and flexibility found in alternatives to big buses
The new vans are part of MPS’s Alternative Vehicle Transport program, which has been transporting small groups of students for a variety of purposes since 2015. Student passengers might have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), or they might have midday apprenticeships or work placements, or receive Homeless Education Program services.
“If you have a big bus transporting just four kids, it’s time to explore alternatives,” Fifarek said. “Alternative vehicles are more economical, and we wanted to partake on a bigger scale.”
The 20-van pilot is a unique opportunity to both meet the needs of displaced students and trim transportation expenses. Purchasing hybrid vans below wholesale value, putting modest mileage on each, and reselling them at retail value gives the district the option to expand the fleet over time.