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     Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 31191 Registered: 01-2000  Rating: N/A |
Cost of school transportation tops in nation Association: Making bus routes more efficient not always possible Schenectady (NY) Gazette December 16, 2012 NEW YORK STATE — New York has the highest school transportation costs in the country, and they have been growing at a rapid pace, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit organization that advocates for government and spending reform. Last week the CBC unveiled an interactive map that shows transportation spending in every district in the state. The data includes the total amount of money spent on transportation, the per pupil cost and the percentage of spending reimbursed by the state. In New York, the reimbursement rate for transportation ranges from 6.5 percent to 90 percent. * * * * 
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 30966 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Ohio woman who drove on sidewalk must wear 'idiot' sign Lancaster (NY) Eagle Gazette Nov 6, 2012 CLEVELAND (AP) — A woman caught on camera driving on a sidewalk to avoid a Cleveland school bus that was unloading children will have to stand at an intersection wearing a sign warning about idiots. Court records show a Cleveland Municipal Court judge on Monday ordered 32-year-old Shena Hardin to stand at an intersection for two days next week. She will have to wear a sign saying: “Only an idiot drives on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.” The judge ordered her to wear the sign from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. both days. Hardin’s license was suspended for 30 days and she was ordered to pay $250 in court costs. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 30550 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Some school bus tips to remember An Albany (NY) Times Union Letter to the Editor August 14, 2012  School buses are on the road again as children are getting back to school. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, school buses are the safest way for students to travel. But everyone plays a role in helping children ride to school safely. Durham School Services, student transportation provider for Albany City School District, reminds parents of these important safety tips: Children should get plenty of rest so they won't fall asleep on the bus. Have your child at the bus stop on time. Running after a bus is dangerous. Remind kids to stay out of the "danger zone" by keeping 10 giant steps away from the bus at all times so the driver can see them. Children's clothing and backpacks should not have long ties or straps that could get caught when climbing on or off the bus. Kids should never put their head, arms or anything else out the bus windows. Students should cross in front of the bus crossing gate where the driver can see them. Caution children to stay on the sidewalk and be alert when walking. Make sure your kindergartner or first-grader knows his or her address. This helps in cases where they board the wrong bus the first few days of school. Motorists should use extra caution around school buses and stops, and never pass a school bus with its stop arm extended and lights flashing. More school bus safety information is available at www.durhamschoolservices.com We look forward to a great school year and appreciate the community joining us in our commitment to the highest level of student safety. Karen Paquette Durham School Services General manager Albany
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 28185 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Gov. Cuomo Signs Bill To Make School Buses Safer BY ALEX KATZ / NY Daily News Daily Politics blog Aug. 16, 2011 Gov. Cuomo today signed into law a bill that expands the list of convictions that would bar someone from becoming a school bus driver. Under the new law, which will take effect nearly six months from now, an applicant convicted of any one of the crimes listed would either be disqualified from operating a school bus or would have to reapply in five years -- depending on the severity of the crime. * * * The crimes listed include: · Aggravated manslaughter in the first or second degree · Aggravated sexual abuse in the second, third, and fourth degree · Sexual abuse in the first degree · Course of sexual conduct against a child in the first or second degree, · Facilitating a sex offense with a controlled substance · Predatory sexual assault · Sex trafficking · Disseminating indecent materials to minors in the first degree · Use of a child in a sexual performance · Promoting or possessing a sexual performance by a child · Aggravated assault upon a child less than 11 years old · Luring a child · Persistent sexual abuse · Aggravated criminally negligent homicide · Criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 28074 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Some schools cheer lifting of state bus mandate By OMAR RICARDO AQUIJE / Glens Falls (NY) Post-Star July 23, 2011 * * * Last month, lawmakers approved the School Bus Mandate Relief Act, allowing districts to reduce the number of seats for students if those seats are not used. Prior to the new law, districts were required to provide a seat for every student who was eligible for the bus, even if students used other means of transportation. Now, seats can be reduced if there's a consistent pattern of students who don't ride the bus. A school board must have a documented history of the number of riders in each of the preceding three years to pinpoint a trend of empty seats. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 26799 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
School buses add cameras to catch drivers endangering kids By Sherry Shephard, USA TODAY Jan 17, 2011 School districts nationwide are trying out video cameras as a way to deter drivers from passing buses that are loading or unloading children. Districts in Dallas County, Texas, Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland and Cobb County, Ga., are among the latest to test the cameras on some school buses in their fleets. Michael Warner, associate director of fleet maintenance for the Cobb County School District, says an incident there in December 2009 prompted them to install cameras on two of their buses last spring. "A bus was stopped, unloading students, and a car behind the bus stopped and a second car behind that car swerved, went around the right side of the bus and ran over a kindergarten girl and killed her," Warner says. Warner says the stop-arm cameras were added to a digital video system already on the buses. "The digital video system runs between $1,500 and $1,800, and we pay an extra $200 for the stop-arm camera," he says. Warner says the school district works with the local police department concerning violators, and the police have conducted stings where violators have been caught. "A couple of months ago, they were able to catch five violators that they pulled over," Warner says. * * * Although the cameras have captured video of drivers bypassing a stopped bus, Maxwell says no Maryland law allows that video footage to be used for ticketing drivers. "Our transportation people can review that video and share it with the county police, who can issue warning letters to these drivers, but there's no real enforcement teeth yet," she says. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 25666 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
School buses more economical An Albany (NY) Times Union Letter to the Editor June 20, 2010 Robert Fisher's June 7 letter, "Several ways state can save," suggested restricting school aid in such a way as to discourage districts from providing transportation to older students who live 1.5 miles or less from school. i State transportation aid only supports kindergarten-eighth-grade students who live two miles from school and high school students who live three miles from school. While we would argue that all these children would be safer if riding on school buses, let it be clear that the state does not spend any state aid on transporting students who live close to school. If those children rode school buses, fewer cars would be on the road taking children to school and congesting school lots. School buses can carry 60-70 riders instead of the two to three who can ride in a less safe passenger car. One could argue that the state should provide incentives for transporting more children on yellow school buses for reasons of safety, efficiency and environmental friendliness. Think about it -- it makes sense.  I guess walking and biking don't make sense anymore. Peter Mannella New York Association for Pupil Transportation Albany
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 25555 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
1 child dead after Tri-Valley school bus crashes on Ohio 60 Zanesville (OH) Times Recorder Staff Reports with over 80 comments June 2, 2010 NASHPORT — A 6-year-old Nashport Elementary School student was killed and six classmates and a bus driver injured Wednesday morning when their bus rolled over on Ohio 60 just south of Fawn Drive. Tri-Valley Local Schools Bus 26 was southbound when driver Carol Oler apparently lost control and went off the right side of the road, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol. The bus rolled over at least once and landed on its top in a roadside ditch at 8:18 a.m., the patrol said. Patrol officials identified the dead student as Kasey King of Frazeysburg. * * * The death is the first involving a student on a school bus in Ohio in more than 40 years, according to state officials. * * * “My heart goes out to the family of the child who was fatally injured in this morning’s school bus accident. This is a heartbreaking tragedy, and I also express my concern for the other students and bus driver injured in the accident. Additionally, my thoughts are with the staff of this student’s school. It is so difficult to deal with this type of loss.” * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 25027 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Southeastern Local Schools driver resigns after child was left on bus Chillicothe (OH) Gazette staff with over 10 comments March 23, 2010 A Southeastern Local Schools bus driver has resigned after a sleeping child was left on the bus. Sara Duvall failed to check her bus after parking it next to the playground March 15 and a first-grader was left asleep on the bus for a couple of hours, Superintendent Brian Justice said Monday. The child was discovered when students went outside for recess and saw the child sit up in the bus. * * * Duvall turned in the resignation, effective immediately, the next day. * * * Duvall also teaches art in the district and had turned in a letter of retirement as a teacher before this. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24742 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Wi-Fi Turns Rowdy Bus Into Rolling Study Hall By SAM DILLON / NEW YORK TIMES Feb. 12, 2010 * * * But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops. Morning routines have been like this since the fall, when school officials mounted a mobile Internet router to bus No. 92’s sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. The students call it the Internet Bus, and what began as a high-tech experiment has had an old-fashioned — and unexpected — result. Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared. Pretty amazing. A gaggle of kids completely isolated inside a sardine can. It must freak out some people. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24625 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Hawaii school bus service being cut back as costs soar DOE: Earlier adjustments won't cover $12M shortfall By Loren Moreno / Honolulu Advertiser Education Writer January 22, 2010 Public school bus routes, which were cut back in November, may be reduced further next school year and the fare may climb to $1 from 75 cents. The Department of Education plans to eliminate more school bus routes on O'ahu next school year by increasing the distance students will be required to walk to school. Walk distances for students were increased in November from 1 mile to 1.5 miles for secondary students, and the fare jumped from 35 cents to 75 cents for a one-way trip. Education officials, however, say those changes were not enough to address a $12 million shortage in the transportation budget. Next school year, the walk distance for high school students may increase to 2.5 miles. The effective date of the change has not been determined. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24131 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
School district revises bike policy in Saratoga By DENNIS YUSKO, Albany (NY) Times Union Staff writer October 14, 2009 * * * The new rule permits elementary school students and children attending Maple Avenue Middle School to ride bikes on school properties if they are accompanied by a parent/guardian and register in a note, "providing due diligence by the administration and individual school planning committees has determined that the conditions exist under which bikes may safely access school property." The public schools have no authority to prohibit students from traveling on the public streets with their parents, I don't care what incomprehensible policy or regulation the board passes. * * * "They are still involving themselves in something they have no right to be involved with," Kaddo Marino said at the meeting at Dorothy Nolan Elementary. She said she wants a level playing field for all modes of transportation. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24106 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Gingrich: Bike power Ex-GOP House speaker urges board to OK school commute By DENNIS YUSKO, Albany (NY) Times Union Staff writer October 9, 2009 SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Newt Gingrich -- the potential presidential candidate and former Republican U.S. House speaker -- is urging the city school district to end a policy that forbids students from bicycling to Maple Avenue Middle School. That's nice, but there's a problem, here. Politicians are sticking their noses into way too many issues. We can't pull out a hanky to sneeze in without a politician wondering whether there isn't something he can do about it to improve his electability or his campaign purse. Newt's position is right but politicians are wrong as often as they are right and when they are right we all know it without their input and when they are wrong they do far more damage than the amount of good they do when they are right.
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24072 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
A sensible way to get to school An Albany (NY) Times Union Editorial October 2, 2009 * * * It's gotten a bit silly when a 12-year-old kid biking to the middle school, accompanied by his mother, qualifies as an act of protest. Yet seventh-grader Adam Marino and his mother, Janette Kaddo Marino, were met one day by a school administrator and a State Police officer who informed them that both biking and walking to the Maple Avenue Middle School are banned. Students must either take the school bus or be driven to school by someone else. Totally absurd. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24044 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
School district could backpedal on policy Saratoga Springs board to consider modifying ban on riding bikes to schools By DENNIS YUSKO / Albany (NY) Times Union Staff writer September 29, 2009 * * * While the school district does not allow elementary school or Maple Avenue students to ride bikes to school, that could change in the coming weeks, Superintendent Janice White said. The Board of Education could vote to amend the policy on Oct. 13, when it is scheduled to discuss a recommendation from a district-formed committee. The powers that courts approve for public schools extending their control over off-campus conduct is an affront to liberty. If parents and students choose not to use school transportation, then how they get to and from school isn't any of the school's business, especially if their mode of travel requires no more accommodation than the transportation used by staff. Adam Marino and his mother, Janette Kaddo Marino, deserve a medal for defying policy prohibiting biking to school. When my daughter was in kindergarten, her school did the same thing and I refused to accede to the school's assumed authority to prevent her from biking on public streets--especially since she was always accompanied by my wife. The school backed down. I was an assistant prosecuting attorney at the time. Unless people stand up to government, government will presume to tell you more and more what to do until you can only do what the government permits. * * * *
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 24031 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Brutality on the bus A Shrewdness of Apes blog September 22, 2009 I imagine you've probably heard about this by now: The [Belleville, Illinois] School Board on Monday handed out the harshest punishment allowed to two students accused of violent attacks on another boy on a school bus last week, saying it was sending a message by expelling the two boys for the rest of this year and all of next. * * * Here is an edited version of the video from the school bus from the CBS Morning News.... The 15-year-old was placed under 24 hour house arrest after a hearing before a juvenile judge today. He will not be allowed out of his house without a court order, and is being held in custody until his father, who is a minister, gets a land line so that his monitor will work. The bus driver, after an investigation, has been removed from that route. There are links to related stories here, and here. The full, unedited video, which lasted 13 minutes, is here. I am disgusted with kids who think this is funny. I am disgusted that the second attack was not prevented, much less the first. It seems these kids had no fear of consequences. I am disgusted with the parent who said that her child was wrong for laughing but excused that behavior at the same time, because the laughter helped prolong the first attack and provoke the second attack. I am disgusted with the parent (who is a minister) of the fourteen-year-old attacker who talked about how his family's life was harmed by the publicity and reaction, when he should be wondering why his child felt free to attack someone in such a vicious manner. God help us.
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 23702 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
Gloversville school district adopting bus stop plan Rural students won’t be picked up in front of home By Jim McGuire / Schenectady (NY) Daily Gazette Reporter July 22, 2009 GLOVERSVILLE — The Gloversville Enlarged School District will eliminate its longstanding door-to-door bus service for the coming school year, resuming a policy that it abandoned after one day last year in the face of intense opposition from rural parents. District officials said Tuesday that letters of notification will soon be sent to affected households. The bus stop plan, which a consultant said would save about $60,000 a year, will commence with the opening of school in September. The plan to eliminate door-to-door service infuriated a number of parents residing in the rural parts of the district, in the towns of Johnstown and Bleecker. The parents attended numerous meetings, arguing that the district was discounting safety issues inherent in compelling young children to walk long distances on rural roads to bus stops, particularly in the winter. Superintendent Robert DeLilli did not return calls for comment Tuesday, but school board Vice President Betsy Simek said the board cannot ignore the savings identified in the study completed over the winter by the Syracuse-based Pupil Transportation and Safety Institute. After collecting students at bus stops on only one day last fall, the administration and board decided to suspend that plan pending further study. At the time, DeLilli called the halt a temporary stay. Simek pointed out the board took the suggestion of two parents when it approved commissioning the Safety Institute study. She said she understands the concerns of parents but said the state Education Department has determined that rural roads lacking sidewalks are not unsafe for purposes of students walking to bus stops. What do you expect from an education department? One-size-fits-all is the way things work in education. All rural roads are the same, right? Idiots. The study evaluated savings from consolidating seven rural runs. The savings are calculated on the basis of fuel, maintenance and labor costs. By consolidating stops and modifying the seven routes, the study found the district would avoid driving nearly 10,000 miles annually. District buses are now traveling about 283,000 miles a year. Simek referred a reporter to Transportation Director William Ferguson for complete details on the final plan. Ferguson could not be reached for comment. The parents said their children would be subject to such dangers as traffic, weather, wild animals and abduction. Not to mention being completely vulnerable to a shooting. The study determined the district spent $1.7 million in 2007-08 transporting 1,268 of its 3,300 students. Gloversville’s transportation cost per pupil of $1,339 that year exceeded costs in all nearby districts, including Johnstown at $1,024 and Amsterdam at $893. The added burden for Gloversville was attributed to the cost of transporting 281 special education students.
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| Jerry Moore (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 23651 Registered: 01-2000 Rating: N/A |
BusRadio—Helpful Service or Inappropriate Material? Katie Ash / Digital Education blog July 14, 2009 The Denver Post is reporting that Congress has ordered a Federal Communications Commission review of BusRadio—a radio programming service used by 9,000 buses in 24 states. Critics of the program claim that the music played by the service is sometimes age inappropriate and that the students on the bus are being held hostage to the commercials played on the station, according to the article. The issue of advertising on buses is not a new one. I wrote a quick story about that very subject coming up in South Carolina a few years back. Officials in that state were considering adding advertising to buses to increase revenue for education. And indeed, the buses that play BusRadio do receive some money for allowing the service, says the article. There are different stations of BusRadio, one geared to elementary school students, one toward middle school students, and a third for high schoolers. And although some parents may have qualms with the content on the station, the service claims to provide a safe, age-appropriate alternative to traditional AM/FM radio. A spokesman from Denver Public Schools also said in the article that the service has helped keep the bus rides more calm and safe, which is the reason why the school district installed the service originally. * * * *
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