School bus issues still hot in Milton
MILTON — Milton School Board Transportation Committee members on Monday were quick to pounce on liability and communications issues linked to the district's after school bus transfer system.
But at the same meeting, committee members sidestepped a more complex issue—the specter of lengthening ride times.
Committee members Tom Westrick, Wilson Leong and Janet Green on Monday had a roundtable discussion with the district's bus contractor, Go Riteway. The committee probed bus company officials on the chain of communications between district schools and parents—and the policies the company has in place for safety of younger students transferring buses after school.
The committee asked Riteway to:
-- Resume mailing annual busing contracts to parents, which was a past practice in the district, officials said. The contracts would show parents what time their children would get picked up and dropped off, if the student would have an afternoon bus transfer, and how that process works.
-- Set up a chain of communication with Riteway being the first to receive, respond to and direct parent phone calls on busing issues.
-- Mail a survey to update Riteway's transportation data. Riteway officials said Monday it's been "two or three years" since it updated its databases on how individual district families use busing.
The district and Riteway have been in hot water over the elementary school bus transfer at Northside Intermediate School, a daily part of busing that's been blamed for a kindergarten student getting on the wrong bus last month.
At the same time, the district heard an earful from parents who say ride times have increased by 15 or 20 minutes after school—a problem Riteway and the district blame on Highway 26 construction.
Changes discussed by the committee and Riteway didn't directly address ride times, and the talks didn't seem to satisfy Noah Lamson, one parent at the meeting.
For the second time this month, Lamson asked the board to consider transferring his son Samuel from Milton West Elementary to Consolidated School. He said the change would cut his son's 80-minute afternoon bus ride by more than in half.
Lamson also has asked the district to find another way to get K-3 elementary students home besides busing many of them to a transfer hub at Northside, where they must switch buses before going home.
He said that's how Samuel got lost and on the wrong bus one day last month.
Lamson and reporters pressed committee members Monday about whether they would give serious consideration to ride times or the potential of eliminating bus transfers for K-3 students.
That's not something the committee had intended to address Monday, Westrick said, but he said it could be "possibly looked into."
Some district officials have said it could cost $1 million to consolidate busing into one wave of routes.
Nov 1, 2012 at 11:27 a.m.
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REALLY sIGMA....considering I have 6 children who ride those busses I don't think I am overstepping my boundries here. How many kids do you have in the system? Exactly so why don't you keep your crappy opinions to yourself, or maybe you can stop by my house and see what these kids and parents are actually dealing with. I doubt you will though because cowards like you like to hide behind these blogs, and spout your mouth off, with zero fact and basis for your ignorance othe than to cut people down, and try to appear as if your a person of knowledge. Clearly your a complete moron.
Nov 1, 2012 at 10:35 a.m.
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@Sigma40 - I don't think there have been permanent losses of children. I also think you should get the most of your tax dollars.
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Please stop with this city slicker BS that you are using in your comments. You have no idea why I live where I live. You do not know my family struggles. If you want to keep that up, please send me a message through here and I'll give you my phone number to talk about the developmental testing my daughter is undergoing and how my wife has to stay home with her all day. I encourage you to. Maybe you can then see that the bus service, that is paid for by the public, is a good and helpful thing.
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Name calling is not a helpful thing.
Oct 31, 2012 at 2:56 p.m.
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Sigma, I don't know why you give a flying one about this topic. And apparently you don't actually do any research or get involved because if you actually showed up at the Board meeting on 10/22 you would have heard from two parents who have had kids "misplaced" by the bus company for periods of time (hours). Children are not backpacks or car keys where the misplacement of same is a mere frustration or inconvenience. Apparently you let your kids raise themselves and said hello if you happened to see them every few days?
Oct 31, 2012 at 12:33 p.m.
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redder - How many children have gone permantently missing from the Milton school buses? Sounds like you need help containing your Narcissistic rage.
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The only thing that has changed in the past few years is new city slickers have moved out beyond the city and have to bus their kids to school....Its called life. Welcome to it. The world doesnt stop and start at your convenience.
Oct 30, 2012 at 5:33 p.m.
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Why is it always about cost...how about child safety...What cost do we put on that? When a child is injured or goes missing permanently then what? Will we act then? Will Riteway, who is the worst run company I have ever seen, will they be there to help the parents through that time? Will they be there for Christmas, Birthdays, that, that child is nolonger attending? Will they put the flowers on the tombstone, whipe away the tears? I don't think they will because they simply do not care. Why is one of their other local bus services making more money that our drivers? Why do they have fewer problems than we do? I think we all know the answer and I think we all know the solution. Now school district get your heads out of your rear ends and fix this problem and fix it now. There is absolutely not one reason that the parents in this community should settle for anything less. Maybe more telivision needs to communicate these issues to a broader base, and demand a solution. Maybe we as parents might want to start picketing Riteway on their conduct. We need action not anymore lip service.
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