Wednesday, August 27, 2003
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003 |
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BOE to hear bus route task force report Tues. By J. FRANK LYNCH
Exactly two weeks and a day after putting out the call for volunteers to serve on its Transportation Task Force, the Fayette County School Board will gather for its first report on the committee's work in a called meeting next Tuesday night. Monday was the deadline for submitting an application to the task force. Deputy Superintendent Fred Oliver was expected to name by midweek the committee's members, 10 residents representing a cross-section of the county, and five school system personnel. According to Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information specialist for Fayette schools, if all goes as planned the task force will have its first meeting before the week is out. "This is a pressing issue, and they want to address it as soon as possible," she said. Plans for the task force were outlined in a statement read by School Board Chairman Terri Smith at the start of the Aug. 18 board meeting, attended by more than 200 parents outraged at cutbacks in funding for school bus routes. Exactly what type changes the task force will be empowered to make remains to be determined. The most pressing goal, said DeCotis last week, was to reconcile all issues of safety and security. Once those are settled, then the department can turn its attention to filling gaps in service and reexamine cancelled routes. Still, some parents just want common sense applied. Peachtree City's Estates neighborhood rallied in a big way when transportation was eliminated altogether, allegedly because the neighborhood, next door to Braelinn Elementary, was within a half mile of the school. In fact, the furthest Robinson Road access to the Estates is 0.4 mile from Braelinn, and the most distant house in The Estates is 1.2 miles, residents claimed. The county's transportation department agreed. Now, when walking or driving their children to school each day, Estates parents who live less than a mile from the school put up with the sight of a county school bus chugging past them to pick up neighbor kids who just happen to live beyond the one-mile service line. "And when the bus comes back by us, it's half empty," said Lara Long, who with her husband, Brian, helped organize the initial Estates response. Several residents of The Estates applied for spots on the task force, she said. Details were unavailable at presstime, but readers can get regular updates on the transportation issue by going to the newspaper's website, www.theCitizenNews.com. Ordinarily, the school board meets the third Monday of each month, reserving the first Monday for casual work sessions. But when school business requires swifter action, the board can vote itself into "Called Session." A pressing matter awaits the board Monday in addition to getting the task force up and running: Hiring more teachers. And quick approval is expected for three job descriptions that were recently amended: Assistant Superintendent of Operations, currently held by Wayne Robinson, and "Director of Technology Services" and "Fixed Assets Specialist/Finance," open positions.
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