Deer Lakes School District policy outlining where a child can get on and off his or her school bus continues to be a subject before the board.
That's bothering board member William Lupone Jr., who says directors are spending too much time debating an issue that could be resolved with some flexibility and common sense.
Lupone called the situation an “absolute catastrophe.”
In June, the district revised its transportation policy. It was meant to fix problems caused by numerous requests for students to get on and off buses at locations that changed by the day.
Under the policy, each child is given one bus assignment for their commute to and from school. A student can have a different morning bus stop than his or her afternoon stop, but each bus stop must remain the same for each day of the week.
For students to have multiple bus assignments, parents must provide legal documentation of custody situations, the policy states.
The policy says that administrators will determine any changes to bus assignments.
Board President Lisa Merlo said this is where school board members thought flexibility was put into the policy.
But some parents are saying they're finding no flexibility at all.
At the board's meeting Monday, resident Tara Moore complained that, on one day out of the week, her child has not been allowed to get on the same bus at a stop that is two stops before her regular stop. She called it an issue of safety.
“I don't think we're asking for anything unreasonable,” she said. “We are working parents doing the best we can.”
Moore said she was threatened with losing busing for her child if her child were to try to board her bus at a different stop.
“I can't tell you how bad I feel about this,” Lupone said.
Lupone said he will take the matter before the board's policy committee, which meets Oct. 31.
Merlo said she believes that is the “prudent” way to handle it.
“There should be a lot more flexibility when it comes to helping our citizens,” Lupone said.
Moore said a petition on the issue is circulating in the community.
“We're not the only ones in this boat,” she said. “This is affecting a lot of people.”
Coaches hired
The board approved supplemental contracts for the 2013-14 school year for a number of coaches. Their salaries are subject to negotiations between the district and the Deer Lakes Education Association.
The coaches are Jon McKay, head boys basketball; Austin Snodgrass, junior varsity boys basketball; Michael Tillery, junior high boys basketball; Angela Koz-lowski, eighth-grade boys basketball; Donald Colton, seventh-grade boys basketball; Dana Petruska, head girls basketball; David Petruska, junior varsity girls basketball; Lisa Grubbs, girls varsity assistant volleyball; and Katherine Longwell, head swimming coach.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com.
