Keep Our MTM Bus Drivers

To the Editor:

I am a stay-at-home mother with two daughters and have lived in Newtown for nearly 16 years. My oldest daughter is 9 years old and attends Middle Gate School. My youngest daughter is 4½ years old and attends preschool.

Our MTM bus drivers have been very friendly and caring. They show a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of my children. One day, my oldest daughter got ill while riding the bus. The bus driver called me directly and informed me that my daughter was ill and at the nurse’s office. I was able to go and pick her up. My youngest daughter is a special needs child and rides the small MTM bus. Her bus driver is very caring and attentive. She never pulls away until all the children are safely buckled in their seats.

The MTM bus drivers are a major part of our community and should not be discarded like yesterday’s trash. I trust them wholeheartedly with the safety of my children. By ridding Newtown of the MTA buses, the Board of Education is ripping apart our community. We cannot entrust people from outside our community whom we don’t know with the safety and well-being of our children. Our children are the future and we cannot put a price tag on what they mean to us.

I implore the Board of Education to strongly reconsider its decision to replace the MTM with another bus company. To do so would be a grave mistake.

Karen Visca

30 Mile Hill South Road, Newtown                                 April 8, 2009

(Editor’s Note: The Board of Education is still deliberating school bus contract issues and has not yet decided to make any changes in the district’s bus service.)