Board Promises To Solve

School Busing Problems

By Larissa Lytwyn

The Board of Education sought to reassure more than 100 parents –– many from St Rose School –– faculty, administration, and bus owner-operators concerned about recent busing problems during the September 9 meeting.

 “We have added one full-size bus, as well as a minibus, to St Rose School,” said Transportation Director Mary Kelly. “The police department is helping serve as crossing guards. The afternoon shuttle buses have been eliminated.”

During the first day of last week’s shuttle bus, St Rose students were expected to transfer at Reed Intermediate on their way home. Some students, including a kindergartner, were left behind at Reed Intermediate, one of many incidents that left parents, bus drivers, and administrators districtwide deeply concerned over the effectiveness of the current bus system.

“When we voted on the three-tier system [last June], we were led to believe that there would be the same level of [scheduling] quality as last year,” said Board Chair Elaine McClure, quickly emphasizing that the efficiency of bus drivers, administrators, and others have remained high.

“It’s no one person’s fault,” said owner-operator Paul Miles. Originally, he explained, St Rose School was in the three-tier system’s last tier. Due to a timeframe issue, however, St Rose ultimately moved from the last to middle tier, complicating routing for the geographically widespread locations of the three elementary schools placed in the final tier.

In addition, to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the three-tier system, St Rose was only allocated five buses this year. Last year, the school had 12.

Further, said Mr Miles, the traffic has been particularly horrendous because of the large number of students being driven to school by parents.

The alternative for many of these students, several parents and administrators at the meeting attested, would be to wait for a bus so late that they would miss most of their first period class.

While the transportation department often contacts schools and parents about delays, some buses do not have radios. Cell phones and other means of communication, even the Internet, were deemed ineffective by many parents. The bottom line, one parent said, was that the scheduling needed to be fixed.

“These students have tests coming up, and they can’t even get to school on time,” said Mary Maloney, principal of St Rose School. “This experience has been a real baptism by fire,” she added, drawing weary laughter from parents.

Ms Maloney officially became principal of St Rose School this past July.

 “This experience,” she continued, “has had a big psychological impact on students as well.” Every day, she said, she was trying to help stressed young students find their buses. Others, she reported, were having anxiety attacks. Tensions have been strong throughout the student body, she said, as well as parents, faculty, the bus drivers, and the administration.

“This cannot ever happen again,” she said.

Thomas Davis, a St Rose parent, expressed concern that students from St Rose, a private Catholic school, were getting home significantly later than their public school counterparts. With more than 300 St Rose students, he said, he was appalled that only five buses had been allocated while Reed Intermediate, with three times as many students, had five times as many buses.

St Rose School, Mr Davis said, saved taxpayers $2.2 million each year, evidence of nonpublic schools’ vital importance to the community’s economic growth.

 “Two of my children have Type I diabetes and require a rigorous schedule of carbohydrate intake and insulin,” said Dr Neil Culligan, president of the St Rose Home School Association. “With prolonged bus rides, their schedules have been altered and they are at risk of low or high blood sugar reactions which could progress to a medical emergency.” Many children, he continued, have regimented schedules because of conditions causing seizures and other problems.

“At the least,” he said, “more buses and bus runs must be added.”

On September 4, Ms McClure and board member Andrew Buzzi visited St Rose’s Home School Association meeting to discuss the issue with parents.

“This is not a budget issue,” said Mr Buzzi. “Although start times changed [with the three-tier system], we were led to believe that nothing else would change.” He emphasized the graciousness of the St Rose parents.

“This is obviously unacceptable,” he said. “And I understand why parents are upset. I am a parent, too. [The board] had no idea this was going to happen. This was not the way it was supposed to be.”

Mr Buzzi discussed the immense support of Ms Maloney and Chief Michael Kehoe. Chief Kehoe, he said, repaired the Traders Lane traffic light, adjacent to Reed Intermediate, within one day after an original estimate that the process would take weeks.

The light, he said, changed every seven seconds, making it impossible for even one bus to pass through before the light changed again. Now, the light does not change nearly as rapidly.

The problems, he said, have been caused by a variety factors, many unforeseen, such as the Traders Lane light and crossing guard shortage.

“This is a great town with great people,” Mr Buzzi said. “The board is committed to this issue. We are going to make this system effective. And we will do whatever it takes to get there!”

Ms McClure agrees. “The parents are rightfully concerned,” she said. “The situation right now is totally unacceptable.”

Her goal at the September 4 St Rose meeting, she said, was to show compassion for the families. “We were just there to listen,” she said. The role of the school board, she added, was to put pressure on the administration for “people hired to do their job to get the job done.”

While the crossing guard position may be ideal for a senior citizen, she said, she was concerned that colder, inclement weather may make it a difficult job to accomplish.

“We just have to put our heads together and try to fix the problem,” she said.

“Every day it’s getting better,” said Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff. “We are taking steps forward, not backward.”

Soon, he assured, the number of buses serving the district will be increased. “Hopefully, we can tweak other schools’ [bus supplies],” he said, “by integrating more buses.”

Board secretary Margaret Hull repeatedly suggested moving the system back to four tiers, a system, she said, that has proven effective.

The suggestion drew heavy applause from parents.

Ms McClure frequently thanked the parents and other community members for coming and expressing their support. A special school board meeting regarding bus scheduling will be held September 16, 4 Fairfield Hill Circle South, at 7:30 pm. As always, the public is welcome to attend.