Wanted: Bus drivers for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. No experience? No problem! Can’t read a map, avoid obstacles or understand road signs? Please apply! Jan. 2. The first day back to school and the news predicts a frigid morning. I am worried, and rightfully so, for 40 minutes later, we are frozen to the core, and there is still no bus.
On Friday it broke down, and the contractor didn’t notify our Transportation Department. Most days, it is simply lost. In the last four months, bus drivers have yelled at me, asked me what road they are on, asked me where the other children on the route live, turned the bus around in my driveway, knocked my garbage cans over, and just not showed up. Twice they have actually hit me with the safety bar while I crossed to put my daughter on a bus that was going in the wrong direction. One day, I put my kindergartner on the bus at noon, drove to school over an hour later, only to find that my daughter had not yet arrived. We live on the same road as the school, but alas, the driver just could not find it.
While my steady stream of bus stories provides constant amusement for my friends, I am not alone, and this year is not an anomaly. Many bus nightmare stories have been recorded in this paper. In my own nightmare, a few years ago, my kindergartner’s bus skidded off the road, hit a telephone pole, and landed in a ditch. The driver called it in. That’s all she did. She did not check on the children or even ask if anyone was hurt, and my daughter sat, uncomforted, with a head injury, in an unheated bus, in a ditch, for two hours.
Incredibly, the only factor considered in hiring buses is price. Every bus route in the district is put out for bid, and the lowest bidder gets the job. The result? A mishmash of busing companies over which the district Transportation Department has little control. Need I say that this decision-making process seems flawed? I don’t even use a “cheapest is best” attitude when choosing my dish detergent. How dare the school district use it when our children’s very lives are at stake.
When I was little, my bus driver was Mr. Snook. Mr. Snook lived in Titusville and knew every road. He never got lost, and if children were hurt, he would comfort them. Our district needs to return to local bus drivers; our children’s safety should not be farmed out. The school district finished the 2006/2007 fiscal year with a $1.8 million surplus. Now is the time to restore valuable programs to ensure our children’s quality of life. If we leased/owned our own buses, I’m sure there are many local retirees and stay-at-home moms who would be more than willing to drive them.
I just penned this letter during the 11 p.m. news. Yep, you guessed it. Another frigid morning is predicted, with wind chills around 0. I’d better get my parka ready.
Kim Robinson
Hopewell Township
