Kacy Davis Sr. will be the new director of transportation for St. Louis Public Schools, according to a district spokesperson.
He most recently served as the executive director for transportation at Pflugerville Independent School District in Texas and has worked in school transportation across that state.
The Board of Education approved Davis' selection during a closed meeting last week.
He will join the district as it rolls out a new transportation policy for the 2025-26 school year.
Starting Jan. 21, all families must register their students with the district and explicitly state that their child will need school-provided transportation. Families can register online using the internal SIS system or drop by the student’s school.
“If you’re a Gateway Elementary third grader and you’re going to Gateway Elementary for fourth grade, you will need to register for fourth grade, rather than us assuming you’re coming,” said Carl Mitchell, an SLPS spokesperson, during a school board meeting last week.
District officials said this new policy will give the district a better headcount of students and streamline bus routes so all students have a ride to and from school.
Chief Operations Officer Square Watson has said he wants to bring routing services in-house instead of hiring an outside vendor.
The district is currently in the process of accepting applications from school bus vendors. Watson said he plans to bring a contract for approval to the school board by February 2025.
He emphasized the need for school buses as opposed to ride-share services the district is currently using to transport students because of the “unsustainable” high cost.
SLPS is currently relying on a patchwork of about 19 vendors to get kids to and from school after its main school bus provider — Missouri Central — ended its contract with the district in the spring. The district struggled to have enough buses for students at the start of the school year, leaving some to rely on public transportation or rides from parents.
