How One Charter School Closed the Attendance Gap and Cut Transportation Fees by 85%

The Results: Closing the Attendance Gap

By removing the logistics barriers of the broker model, KIPP Indy achieved what many districts think is impossible: bringing McKinney-Vento attendance nearly in line with the general student population.

• 10% Attendance Surge: Over three years, average daily attendance for students experiencing homelessness rose from 77% to 86.7%.

• Reaching Parity: High school MKV attendance hit 87.3%, successfully closing the gap with the non-MKV population (88.8%).

• 85% Reduction in Fees: By using transparent data to enforce no-show policies, KIPP slashed late fees and no-show costs by 85% year-over-year.

• Immediate ROI: In the very first week of the transition, KIPP Indy saved $1,900 in cancellation costs compared to their previous vendor, a traditional student transportation broker.

"We attribute this nearly 10% increase in attendance directly to our work with HopSkipDrive. We have finally reached a point where our McKinney-Vento students are attending school at the same rate as their peers. This improved consistency is life-changing for our families."

—Angela Douglas, Managing Director of Family & Community Engagement, KIPP Indy

The Challenge: The Cost of the "Broker Trap"

KIPP Indy, a nonprofit network of college-preparatory public charter schools in Indianapolis, faces a high-stakes challenge: ensuring its high school students experiencing homelessness can actually get to the classroom.

Before partnering with HopSkipDrive, KIPP Indy was caught in the “Broker Trap.” They relied on a brokerage-based vendor that subcontracted rides to third-party fleets, creating a black hole of logistics:

• Zero Agility: Schedule changes required a three- to five-day lead time, making it nearly impossible to support students in sports, clubs, or tutoring.

• Zero Visibility: The school was being billed for no-shows with no data to verify why.

• Sky-High Costs: The network was facing nearly $500,000 in annual transportation costs due to this rigid, unmanaged system.

"With our previous vendor, we had no visibility into why we were being charged, and our students were missing out on opportunities because we couldn't adjust their rides fast enough."

—Angela Douglas, Managing Director of Family & Community Engagement, KIPP Indy

The Solution: Direct Relationships Drive Real Accountability

KIPP Indy transitioned its McKinney-Vento transportation to HopSkipDrive, whose direct relationship with CareDrivers gave the school the transparency the broker model never could.

• Industry-Leading Speed: Staff can now book rides in HopSkiPDrive’s standard 6 hours and adjust them in just two hours, not five days. If a student moves overnight, they don't miss school the next morning.

• Student Empowerment: High schoolers use the HopSkipDrive app to track their own rides, fostering independence and reducing stress for families.

• Proactive Cost Management: Using real-time reporting, KIPP implemented an accountability policy that transformed transportation from an ignored utility into a shared, valued resource.

At KIPP Indy, transportation is no longer a logistics cost. It is a student success strategy.