Protect Our Current Busing System

To the Editor:

The Board of Education announced last week that their next meeting was going to be held on July 8. Quite a few people at that meeting and others we passed that information on to, planned to attend. Now they are changing those plans and, as of the morning of the last day of school, have not scheduled the new date. One of the main issues at this meeting will be a decision as to whether Art Bennett’s bus routes will go to an out of town bus company or his own drivers as individual owner-operators. Another choice would be to give the contract to some of our current owner-operators who have collectively put in bids. Either of the latter choices would be acceptable, in my opinion. Particularly affected by this decision will be some of the Special Education children who really benefit from having local drivers and aides that they are familiar with.

I have been reading with interest the recent articles regarding Ridgefield School District’s bus company, Atlantic Conn, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Ridgefield is left with a problem causing an almost $1 million shortage in their transportation budget. I called Ridgefield’s Superintendent’s office and transportation office and was told that Ron Bienkowski, their business director at the time this bus company was contracted with Ridgefield, was the one who recommended the company to the Board of Education.

Ron is now our business director and is the one, I am told, who chose to ask for bids from out of town bus companies. I am discouraged to think that, after Ridgefield’s mess, Ron would even think, after approximately 70 years of getting our bus drivers from our own community, we would want strangers bringing our children to school. Shame on Mary Kelly for defending Ron’s decision, especially after having to fire a driver that was under her supervision after the driver was arrested for selling alcohol and cigarettes to students that were under age. That driver was not an owner-operator, but a driver hired directly by the district. Please call the Board of Education members or come to the next meeting to let them know how you feel about this situation.

Barbara Bloom

25 Philo Curtis Road, Sandy Hook                              June 23, 2003