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Hillsborough Schools Tardy With Bus Stop Letters

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By RICH SHOPES and JESSICA DaSILVA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

Updated: 08/13/2008 08:16 pm

TAMPA - With only days before school starts, thousands of parents in Hillsborough County still don't know whether their children are eligible to ride a bus to school or where to catch it.

Bus assignment letters that should have gone out to parents two weeks ago were delayed about a week because of a combination of factors, school district officials say. Those factors include a lightning strike at transportation offices in Thonotosassa and difficulties in introducing a new bus program.

The lightning also caused problems with the district's transportation hot line, meaning those who didn't receive a letter couldn't reach the district by phone.

"It's really hard not knowing because we don't whether we can ride, not ride, how to get back. If our parents don't know, they get really worried," said Mariah Gilley, 15, a sophomore at Robinson High School in South Tampa. "It's a big inconvenience."

Most years, parents and students have found out their bus stop by calling their school or returning to the same stop as last year.

But this year, the district has cracked down on busing students who live within two miles of their school, a move that affects about 6,000 students. Most of those affected live in southern Hillsborough, South Tampa, Town 'N Country, Westchase, Carrollwood, Forest Hills and Central Tampa.

The district also has made numerous changes in bus stop locations and times.

District officials say about 35,000 letters went out to parents in the last week to inform them of their children's bus stops. That's later than the district intended, and many parents and students still hadn't gotten their letters by Wednesday.

That's left them wondering what to do come Monday, the first day of school for Hillsborough.

The letters should have arrived a week ago to tell parents their children can ride the bus, where to catch it and when, said district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe. Parents of children who are ineligible for bus service will not receive the letters.

Ashley Guyton, 43 of Tampa, has two sons in middle school. After numerous phone calls and e-mails, Guyton said, she finally received her oldest son's bus stop assignment in the mail Wednesday.

She was glad to get the information but shocked at the pickup time, 7:36 a.m., and disappointed the information took so long to get to her.

"If we don't have communication, we can't plan accordingly," Guyton said. "They can't wait for the eleventh hour."

To learn where your children can catch the bus, parents can call a district hot line set up to deal with the transportation problems, (813) 982-5500.

It would be helpful to have your child's student identification number, and be prepared to call back. The phone line is often busy, a leftover problem from the lightning strike.

Parents can also call their child's school, but district officials say many schools won't receive the bus route information until late Thursday, meaning parents shouldn't call their school until Friday.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com. Reporter Jessica DaSilva can be reached at (813) 259-7851 or jdasilva@tampatrib.com.

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