Comparing Commute Distances Between Hybrid and Conventional Schools

ABSTRACT

One schooling sector that had been growing before the pandemic, hybrid schools, in which students attend physical classes fewer than five days per week and are homeschooled on the other days, has seen recent continued growth. One factor that has not been explored is the commuting patterns families follow to use these schools. Whether families drive more miles to attend these part-time schools, or fewer, or neither, is the question this study seeks to address. In this manuscript, using individual student address data, we examine the commute distances made by students at four schools: two conventional, 5-day private schools, and two hybrid schools. We find that suburban hybrid school students do commute longer distances, but fewer total miles per week.

KEYWORDS:

• homeschool
• school choice
• education policy
• hybrid schools
• transportation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2023.2291878