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Hillsborough School Bus Riders Hit Bumps In Logistical Road

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

Updated: 08/22/2008 10:40 am

TAMPA - Jamie Nanney has two daughters, ages 6 and 9, and they, until this week, had caught a bus to Boyette Springs Elementary School from a stop in front of her home on Alafia Ridge Road.

"For the last four years, there has been a bus stop at the end of our driveway," she said in an e-mail this morning. "On the first day of school, the bus passed us by. When we caught up to the bus, half a mile away, we were told by the bus driver that our original stop was no longer a stop and that my daughters would be required to catch the bus there."

That intersection is dangerous, she said. There are speeders, and drivers tend to run a stop sign there. A registered sex offender lives nearby, she said.

School transportation problems are cropping up all over Hillsborough County, sparked in part by a lack of bus drivers.

"I understand buses have dropped stops," Nanney said in a telephone interview. "But if the driver can stop a half mile up the road at this intersection, why can't she stop in front of my house? They go by here anyway.

"I'm not even asking them to add a stop."

Nanney sent e-mail to the school transportation department and has made telephone calls. She said she has not gotten much of a response, though some of the people she spoke with were sympathetic.

"I'll make some calls on Monday and see if I've gotten anywhere," she said. "I'll give them a little time to see if it works out."

Johnny Johnston lives in Brandon and attends Simmons Career Center in Plant City. Usually the school bus ride takes about 20 minutes, he said, but not this week.

"I'm on the bus right now," the 17-year-old senior said just after 9 a.m. today. "I'm supposed to be at school right now."

The rides this week have taken two hours each way, he said. He said there were 63 people on the bus, about half elementary school pupils and half high school students.

"We called the school transportation department for five days in a row," Johnston said. "We can't get through to anybody."

Yesemia Polo wants to get to her classes at Jefferson High School but has missed three of four days this week because of busing problems, her stepfather said.

Mario Cabrera said his 17-year-old stepdaughter, who is starting her junior year at Jefferson, waited at the assigned bus stop at MacDill Avenue and Abdella Street in West Tampa on Monday and Wednesday with six or seven other students. School was canceled Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Fay.

On both days, the bus never came, Cabrera said. This is the first time she has had problems with bus transportation to Jefferson, he said.

On Monday, Polo eventually caught a ride with a friend. On Wednesday, Cabrera took her to school. Cabrera then complained to the school and to officials at the Hillsborough County School Board office in downtown Tampa.

"The lady was really nice," Cabrera said this morning, "but she didn't fix anything."

He said he has to go to work and can't drive his daughter to school, so she is staying home until the matter is resolved.

He said that on Wednesday he called the district's transportation office, which has been swamped with calls this first week of school, but was put on hold.

"They said the wait would be 45 minutes," he said. "After 20 minutes, it disconnected. I called [Thursday], too. Nobody answered the phone."

School bus woes have hobbled the district since last, when a help line was set up for people to call and find out about bus stops and times. For the most part, the line didn't work.

The district isn't keeping a log of complaints, but it appears more complaints are coming in this first week of school than in years past, school board spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.

"It's just not working the way we had planned," she said. "But we will adjust over the first couple of weeks. We always have issues with transportation in the beginning of a school year."

The problem with routes is compounded by a shortage of bus drivers. "We're about 170 short," Cobbe said.

"We are continuing to work on it," she said. "We apologize to parents who are still confused, and we will address the issues as they come up."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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