‘Mr Deer’ Goes The Extra Mile

To the Editor:

A couple of weeks ago I sent a letter to the editor stating, briefly, “Keep our owner/operators.” I’d like to give an example of why.

 When my son was in second or third grade, he used to get off the bus next door at my parent’s house and walk over when I got home from work. He came in one day and told me that he had missed the bus that afternoon. I asked him how he’d gotten home, did he call my parents for a ride? He said, “No, Mr Deer brought me.” I thought to myself, Who the heck is Mr Deer and what’s the school doing letting Matt get in a car with a man I don’t know?

It was too late to call the school, so I kept asking him about it. All he could tell me was that Mr Deer had brought him home. Finally, the light bulb went off, and I said, “Matt, do you mean Mr Rudolph?” “Yes.”

Of course, Charlie Rudolph. Charlie (one of our O-Os) had gone back to the school after his bus route and when he saw that Matt had missed the bus, he gave him a ride home rather than have the school call me to leave work. We weren’t even on Charlie’s route. This is our owner-operator system at work. Going the extra mile for our kids and for us.

Any savings that may possibly come from replacing them would be but a drop in the black hole that is our school budget. I wonder why Mr Bienkowski is so determined to get rid of them. What does he have against them?

And remember, once they’re gone, they’re gone and we will never get them back.

Newtown, do something right and keep our owner-operators. I think it’s Mr Bienkowski that has to go.

 Thanks again, Charlie. You are missed.

Sincerely,

Bridget Seaman

Hanover Road, Newtown                                             August 17, 2011