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Parents Right To Be Upset Over District's Debacle With Bus Stops

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

By the skin of its teeth, the Hillsborough School District escaped a major transportation meltdown Monday, the first day of school.

But what an extraordinary hassle the district created for families who wanted to ensure their children got safely to school.

Again, the problem boiled down to communications, which Superintendent MaryEllen Elia says weren't up to the district's usual standards. But really, they were. Poor communications have come to define her administration.

Because of fuel costs and a shortage of drivers, the district sent out letters last year alerting parents that major changes were coming in bus stops and routes. The district has decided to end "courtesy" bus rides for children whose homes don't fall within the busing guidelines. Instead, it will provide only what is mandated: rides for students who live more than two miles from school, for those who would have to traverse dangerous conditions and for special education students.

The district held a series of community meetings on the changes in late July and August, but since parents were promised they'd get the specifics in a letter, many didn't attend.

Instead, they waited for letters that never arrived, though there is some confusion about that, too.

As the start of school approached, the district's telephone help lines lit up. Many parents couldn't get through. Some of those who did remained on hold for what seemed like forever. Fed up, some parents went to their children's schools for answers, only to discover that the principals had none.
Communications Officer Stephen Hegarty says district headquarters should have sent the bus-stop information to schools earlier. He also says parents might have missed the nondescript letters they received in the mail - which raises the question of why the district would send important information in a format resembling junk mail?
District officials understood the challenge of getting information to parents juggling jobs, summer vacations, large families and other responsibilities. And they failed to create a system that met their constituents' needs.

You would think that in this high-tech age, school officials could have used online resources more effectively. In a world with searchable mapping software, there should be an easy way for people to learn their child's bus stop without having to talk to a school employee.

But the district's transportation department has been a mess for some time. After an expensive consultant's review last year, the district hired a new director from Texas, John Franklin, who was supposed to be one of the best in the business.

Yet complaints of disorganization continue.

Elia's profuse apology acknowledged that the most nerve-wracking event of the school day - for parents, at least - is putting their child on a bus and hoping they get to school safely.

Families deserved better than the chaos that preceded the start of school.

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