Wednesday, August 13, 2003
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Wednesday, August 13, 2003 |
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School Board listens in silence as parents plead for full return of bus service By J. FRANK LYNCH
The Fayette County School Board, seemingly blind-sided by the growing ill will from parents to changes in the district's busing policy, will form a "Transportation Task Force" within the week, to come up some quick-fix compromises for restoring service as soon as possible. That idea was too little, too late for many of the more than 200 parents who packed the school board's meeting room Monday, spilling out into the lobby of the central offices and into the parking lot. Instead, they want the kind of swift action afforded a Fayetteville mother after she informed the boardMonday night that her 9-year-old daughter's new bus stop shared an address with a registered convicted child molester. That claim, easily proven with a quick 1-minute search of the FBI's federal registry of sex offenders, sent transportation workers scrambling. Tuesday morning before 7:30 a.m., students loading the bus at the intersection in question were handed a memo for their parents: By the afternoon, the stop had been moved to the far opposite end of the neighborhood. Thessia Benson, a single mother who commutes to north Fulton to work, said she sacrificed to buy a home here and expects something in return. "I moved to Fayette County because I wanted a better education for my children, and a safer place to raise my children," she said, her emotion growing. "And you are asking me to leave my children alone, on the sidewalk in the dark in front of the home of a convicted child molester." School system officials and board members appeared uncomfortable, but they did not speak. One by one, and sometimes in groups of two, three or more, the outspoken and the meek stepped up to the board and vented. They represented all corners of the county, debunking rumors that the cuts were focused on Peachtree City neighborhoods. No matter the neighborhood, parents related tales of speeding trucks, dangerous curves, dark overhangs. A few offered statistics on school bus safety, traffic counts, accident reports, funding mechanisms. Nearly every one said their motivation for trying to reverse the bus policy change was safety. Monday's huge turnout indicated that the issues aren't as simple, nor the solutions to easily available, as some thought. On Friday, Board Chairwoman Terri Smith said she felt the serious conflicts involving bus stop safety and the like had been resolved, and that just a few neighborhoods were demanding change. Instead, Fayette Countians from all walks turned out, holding out hope they'd be told bus service would return to the levels of the past. That scenario seemed impossible just a few days ago, but parents say they will settle for nothing less. "Forming a task force is waiting too long," said a homeowner on New Hope Road. "We all know what the popular opinion is of 'task force'," said another. "That means the issue will be put on the back burner, and you hope we'll go away. Well, we're not going to go away, and we're not going to forget." Others who asked to speak to the board were less argumentive, and several broke into tears as they related the daily plight of their children. "My daughter weighs 52 pounds and has to stand in the aisle all the way to Rising Starr because the bus is too crowded," said a Braelinn Green mom. "Today I weighed her bookbag, and it was 26 pounds. If that bus stops suddenly, she's going through the windshield." The mother, crying, paused to catch her breath, then addressed the school board again: "We're counting on you," she said. "Please don't let us down." That the district claims not to have the money was not an issue, several parents said. "We're willing to pay for this, just bring it back." One man offered a formula that showed full bus service to all could be provided to every child in the county for just 34 cents a day per student. Another neighborhood group raised the question of privatizing some or all of the county school bus routes. Through it all, the board members said nothing. They listened, and made notes. Smith as moderator remained the only school system official to acknowledge the speakers, though she received frequent criticism herself for suggesting that some of the issues were of convenience, and not safety. Despite being blind-sided in the past week by the negative reaction to the policy change, the entire board sat stoic and sincere. Superintendent John DeCotis remained silent, as did Deputy Superintendent Fred Oliver, whose job includes oversight of the transportation department. Some parents have been critical of Oliver's reaction to the controversy, accusing him of not returning phone calls and being inaccessible. After the meeting, with a line of mothers waiting to bend his ear on their specific issues, DeCotis said he thought overall the evening went positively and the immediate focus would be getting the task force up and running. The superintendent said an Oct. 26 deadline for restoring bus service in some form or fashion is the ideal, because that's the Sunday when daylight savings time ends. On that Monday morning, Oct. 27, thousands of youngsters will find themselves waiting for the bus in pitch blackness, he said. "That's one of the things we've heard over and over, that parents are fearful of having their children at these bus stops when it gets dark, so we'll try to have some solutions by then," DeCotis said. "Overall, we heard some good information tonight," he said. "We can use that to get the task force operating and start fixing some of these things."
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