LITTLE EGG HARBOR – At the most recent Board of Education meeting, Business Administrator Carl Morelli and board members addressed residents’ concerns about late drivers, poor communication, and more regarding the district’s bussing.
Board member Greg Leszega said after hearing residents’ concerns, “So, I think it’s blatantly obvious that we have definitely lost some public trust because of all the bussing issues.”
“Tonight, we heard things like – a massive shortage of bus drivers. Bus drivers on phones. Communication where people can’t get through to the school or if there’s an emergency,” he said. “No seating charts, no aides, behaviors on buses, that we should have done dry runs, bus maintenance, points of contact in case of an emergency and start times being too early and somebody even said this is just flat out unacceptable.”
“Is there any of these areas that we can answer right now to the public that can start to rebuild trust between the administration and the public as well to let them know we’re going in the right direction?” he asked.
Board member Carl Morelli said, after Leszega’s comment, “Regarding transportation, to say that it was a little bumpy start would be an understatement, but there were a lot of situations and a lot of circumstances that led to it.”
“Most of them I cannot go into in a public session, but they did occur by nobody’s fault and certainly not intentionally,” he said.
“We assembled a team over the summer to begin our transportation department basically from scratch,” he said. “In under a month’s time, we were able to open up the school. Have there been issues? Yes. We’ve had issues such as telephone systems that did not work that we were unaware of. So to those parents out there that dial extension two on our main line coming in and it went nowhere, to no voicemail or no live person, that is a true situation that happened.”
An extension was added to the website, according to Morelli. He added, “Yes, we do have drivers from out of town that came in to help us. We are onboarding drivers as district employees as fast as possible.”
One district staff member said, “At the same time, we have drivers that are unfamiliar with our area who are learning while they are operating with this transportation system that already has more challenges than we can see.”
“The result is that we have delays. We have confusion, we have additional stress for everyone that’s involved,” they said. “We are seeing delays in getting the students to school [and] delays in getting them home from school. So, my question is, where are we hiring a full-time transportation supervisor? What is the status of that position?”
One resident and parent said that there are no seating charts [on the buses]. There is no aide. She added, “Apparently, the bus driver was either texting or on a call when the kids were boarding a bus at Frog Pond.”
Resident Shannon Lautner said, “Major changes this year should not have been pushed through without the data, safeguards, controls, and an implementation plan to prove they’re actually better. I support responsible spending, but I will never support minimal savings on a school’s end at the expense of working families, our children’s safety, their time, their sleep, and their education.”
One resident and parent detailed that her child’s bus was two hours late. She called the school, and no one answered.
“Never in the 32 years I have lived in this town have buses been this late,” resident Tiffany Wilson said.“Our kids lives’ are at risk right now. You guys can see that. You’re not doing anything, and we can see that.”
The post Parents Give School Bussing A Failing Grade appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
