school board takes wrong turns with school bus mess
Considering all of the problems with the Hillsborough County School System (not enough nurses, students gone missing, not enough Physical Activity, unusual student/teacher conferences, questionable testing, graduation rates that make batting averages seem lofty, and more!), you would think they could at least find a way to get the kids to school on time. But I’m afraid not.
Too many kids are getting to school late, missing breakfast, and missing classes. So they want to find more Bus Drivers and drop off high school kids earlier.
We have already written about the shortage of drivers before, and why only those with a great tolerance for today’s typical kids and an ability to accept a small wage continue to drive a school bus. And that was before parents started boarding the bus to beat up students.
So with the high stress and low pay, is there any surprise they have a shortage of drivers? And because the school district is so desperate, some of the drivers that are on the payroll don’t even have the common sense to do the job.
So the answer is higher pay, right? Nope. But even if it was, the school board decided your tax money was better spent on a consultant. In January the school board said they were gonna pay a consultant $225,000 to study and fix the bus problems. Nine months later, they have spent over $340,000 on consultants. And after spending all that money, we still have kids showing up late to school - some say the problem is worse this year.
Good grief! I’ll say this again. When three high school buses all come through one single neighborhood, and none of the buses are full, it is a complete waste of your money. School choice and magnet schools cause this inefficiency, but the answer is not to get rid of these programs.
The answer is to make parents responsible for delivering their children to anything other than their neighborhood school. Your kids have a right to an education, and I’m happy to pay to get those kids to school. But if you want them in the best performing arts (or environmental studies, or international language) school, then it should be your job to get them there, not the school district’s.
Tags: county, education, tax waste, transportation
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October 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am
I agree with the last paragraph 100%. When I was a elementary student we had our neighborhood school, period. Other than that if you wanted to go somewhere else your parents had to take you. The goverment cannot and will never please everyone, and we can’t afford too.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I am told by those more aware than I that busing is necessary to ensure our kids don’t grow up in a New Segregation. Being from the country, where you attended your local school, period, this has never made sense to me, but I am prepared to accept the experts’ opinion.
That having been said, busing people all over town is a really fantastic mess.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I really enjoy the school board taking my tax dollars and spending it on consultants. Geez, I even like the lofty salary of the Superintendent. Did you know she makes over 260K per year? With a salary like that maybe she has the smarts to figure out this bussing mess. I think it’s a shame bus drivers don’t make more. I certainly wouldn’t drive a bus on the roads here in Hillsborough with screaming kids, disrespectful kids and all, at that paultry per hour rate. I don’t know what the answer is but the kids are getting short-changed in the deal.
Late arrival and no breakfast is very disruptive to the learning experience. The school kids need a routine they can count on.