Meeting focuses on bus schedules

The meeting was contentious at times as parents voiced their concerns.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Parents crowded into Fitch High School auditorium Monday for a meeting about next year's bus schedules.
With a reconfiguration of grade levels because of the new middle school on Raccoon Road, transportation director Colleen Murphy called the changes for 2007-08 "the single greatest change in the history of the school district."
Next fall, grades kindergarten to three will be in the elementary schools. Frank Ohl Middle School will become an intermediate school for grades four and five. The new middle school will house grades six through eight.
A committee of parents, administrators and schools staff worked on the bus plan, which involved three public meetings and took into consideration the number of pupils, grade levels, educational requirements, extra-curricular activities and parents' concerns, Murphy said.
For grades nine through 12 for public and nonpublic students, and for kindergarten through eight in the nonpublic schools, the schedule includes a pickup time of 6:45 a.m. and dismissal time of 2:20 p.m.
For grades six to eight, pickup time will be 7:20 a.m. and dismissal will be 2:55 p.m.
For kindergarten to third grade, pickup will be 7:55 a.m. and dismissal will be 3:25 p.m.
For grades four and five, pickup will be 8:25 a.m. and dismissal will be 3:55 p.m.
Check Web site
A complete schedule is available on the school district's Web site.
The school district asked at the public meetings for parents to write their concerns, which then became part of the transportation planning.
Sixty-nine percent of parents said they were concerned about mixing younger pupils with older ones on the buses.
Sixty percent said they were concerned about the amount of time their children spend on the buses.
Forty-five percent said they are concerned about the cost of busing, Murphy said.
At Tuesday's meeting, parents still had questions. Some were concerned about their younger children walking to bus stops at the corner. Murphy said transportation is a public service, and it's parents' responsibility to look after their children before and after buses arrive. She said that if parents don't think it's safe to let their children walk to the corner bus stops, they should walk them there or "get together with neighbors."
Others said they wanted to know if school buildings would be open early enough for parents who had to work to drop their younger children off. Murphy said parents should check with the principals of the individual school buildings to see when doors would be open.
Other concerns
Another parent raised a concern about the lack of sidewalks as children walk to the stops.
"I wish there were sidewalks throughout the township, but there aren't," Murphy said.
Residents of Yorkshire Boulevard attempted to tell Murphy several times that there is no corner stop on their street. "You may think it's funny, but it's not," one woman said as Murphy smiled.
Murphy then said she'd look into it.
Murphy also said that parents who work can submit requests for alternate pickup and drop-off locations in writing to the district two weeks before the year starts.
The new plan will increase the district's busing costs 250,000 a year, Murphy said.
Heuer told a parent who asked where the money is coming from that the district would look at making cuts elsewhere.
After the meeting, he said the district is looking at cuts recommended in the state's recent performance audit of the district. He said they may cut some services and supplies but will stay as far away as possible from making cuts that would adversely affect academics.