LANSING, Mich. – Dean Transportation bus drivers haven’t been sitting idly during the COVID-19 crisis and school shutdown. Instead, the company announced today its drivers have been and will continue to play a frontline role delivering meals to students across the state.
“Many families in the communities we service rely on school meals to help feed their children. When schools started closing, we knew there was going to be a great deal of need. It was important to us to be a part of the solution,” Dean Transportation President and CEO Kellie P. Dean said.
Following the lead of the school districts and their continuity of learning plans, the company transports meals to 23 communities up to five days a week depending on demand in each area. It has rallied nearly 150 staff members to drive the buses, distribute food and/or package meals prior to deliveries. To date, Dean Transportation employees have delivered approximately 330,000 meals to school children across the state.
Schools using Dean Transportation’s services to deliver district-provided meals to students include:
- Algonac Community Schools
- AMA Educational Service District
- Battle Creek Public
- Birch Run Area Schools
- Cadillac Public
- Cedar Springs Public
- Clare-Gladwin Regional Education Services District
- Colon Community Schools
- C.O.O.R Intermediate School District
- Crestwood School District
- Eastpointe Community Schools
- Grand Blanc Charter Academy
- Ingham Intermediate School District – Special Education
- Lake City Area Schools
- LakeVille Community Schools
- Marion School District
- Muskegon Public Schools
- Muskegon Heights Public Schools Academy
- Potterville Public Schools
- Sparta Area Schools
- Trenton Public Schools
- Tri County Area Schools
- Walled Lake
Of the 100 buses delivering food, 22 are specifically designated to deliver to students with special needs.
“Our company was originally founded to serve families of students with different abilities, and that passion still drives our operations today,” said Dean. “I am incredibly proud of the role our drivers and staff are playing to support schools and families to ensure our students—including those with special needs—are taken care of as this pandemic runs its course.”
Dean said a big part of keeping students, families and staff safe through the pandemic comes from following CDC guidelines.
“We have a thorough plan to keep everyone safe and healthy during food delivery,” Dean said. “Some aspects of our safety plan are strict check-in procedures for health screening, cleaning the buses after each route with CDC approved cleaner, wearing personal protective equipment and adhering to social distancing policies.”
Dean said Dean Transportation will continue delivering district-supplied meals to students at the districts’ requests and based on their continuity of learning plans.
“COVID-19 has created a lot of hardship for families in our districts. We will keep doing everything in our power to make sure our partners, families, students and communities make it through this hard time together,” Dean said.
Parents and guardians from participating districts can reach out to their local school for food pickup information, locations, dates and times.
About Dean Transportation
For more than 50 years Dean Transportation has been one of the nation’s leading transportation companies, providing children safe conveyance to and from school. Dean Transportation has made a significant impact on the specialized transportation industry through advocacy of special-needs children. In addition to Dean School Bus, Kellie Dean provides charter bus services through Dean Trailways; offers corporate transportation with Dean Black Car; and Dean Management Service provides transportation administration and consulting services to school districts, transit agencies, municipalities and universities.
