ST. LOUIS — Saint Louis Public School District students will return to class on Monday in many different ways.
More than 6,000 students are expected to use vans, sedans, cabs and SUVs to get to class amid a transportation crisis. Nearly 230 students will get there through a rideshare program called HopSkipDrive.
"Driving with Miss Delia is whatever you need it to be," said Delia Payne, a "CareDriver" for the service.
Students will end up with a CareDriver in the front seat like Payne, who underwent a 15-point certification process, including a background check, fingerprinting, vehicle inspection and training.
"I sing to them, but you have to be able to gauge the children's mood and how they're feeling that morning.
"Sometimes they want to sit, look out the window and be quiet. And I allow them that. Or I have those that want to get in and listen to music or want to talk about something that happened at school or their friends," said Payne.
Payne is a retired paraprofessional who worked with children with behavioral and cognitive issues for ten years. This year is Payne's second year driving for the company and the district.
She said it's her favorite part of the day.
"It's something that I look forward to, especially once you get to know the kids. They know your name. For instance, I have one student — he's usually a happy little kid — but if he's not in a good mood, he'll say, 'Miss Payne, can you put on some calming music for me, please?'
So I've got piano music programmed into my phone, and I play piano music for him, and before we get to school, he's knocked out," she said.
"It's important for me to know that they feel secure when they get in my vehicle and go to school. And I'd also like the parents to feel secure, and if there are ever any concerns, there's the option to communicate through HopSkipDrive," Payne said.
HopSkipDrive has partnered with the district since 2023,
"We are a tech company solving complex transportation challenges like what we're seeing in St Louis at the moment. We work with 10,000 schools across the country. We partner with nonprofits, school districts and government agencies," said HopSkipDrive communications director Cindy Hamilton.
Hamilton said the school district arranges the ride, then parents are immediately notified with the details, including the CareDriver picking up the child in their personal car.
"Our 2023 safety report revealed that 99.7% of all of our rides — over a million rides — occurred without any safety incident of any kind," Hamilton said.
The CareDrivers are retired teachers, parents, grandparents, nurses and babysitters who must have at least five years of professional caregiving experience working with children.
"We want the families to feel secure, and we want the children to get where they're going safely. I treat the children like they're my own when they ride with me," said Payne.
School districts can also arrange for the program to help with afterschool activities.
If a student needs a booster seat, the CareDriver will have it ready to go before they're picked up.
"I have two booster seats for toddlers and kids that need that. I have had students that are still in the car seat. So you pick up the child and the car seat, and the parent is responsible for strapping them in. You take them where they're going, and the school's responsible for taking them out and taking out the car seat," Payne said.
The ride-share company was founded by three working mothers ten years ago.
HopSkipDrive also partners with the City of St. Charles School District and Premier Charter School.