Down in South Carolina a town known as Allendale is changing their school bus policy because of an incident that occurred on Thursday. After school a 19-year-old special education student was upset after being told he needed to go home and was not able to watch the other students play sports. After a verbal fight, the student ran away from his adult attendant and towards a bus. The bus was empty and the student found the spare key, started the bus, and drove off.
He made it about four miles before crashing into a house. Fortunately, only minor injuries were caused to the student and house's resident. Investigations are still underway as to whose fault it is, and as to whether or not the student will need to be charged with anything. The new school bus policy states that no bus, in use (without a driver present) or parked at base, will ever have its keys left in it.
It is unfortunate that most problems, as unlikely as some of them are, only occur to us or are fixed after an incident has happened.
Thank You,
Haleigh
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
On Privatization...
I recall teachers and professors frequently (please note I didn't say "always") commenting on the danger of using sweeping generalization. "A sweeping generalization," according to San Jose University professors, "is one in which there seems to be sufficient evidence offered to draw a conclusion, but the conclusion drawn far exceeds what the evidence supports."
It often occurs to me that many people, including many journalists, missed those sweeping generalization lectures. Today I read an article in the Minneapolis Labor Review (No. 11, March 23, 2012) about the Robinsdale School District voting to outsource their transportation to a private company. The decision was made because the school district's skyrocketing costs are out of line with what other districts are paying for transportation. Apparently, the community is in an uproar. I think that's typical of any community facing a massive change that affects students.
However, I would imagine, as is the case in most similar situations, that drivers will be offered employment with the new private company. And lest we get caught up in the debate about the quality of the private company, I assert that the company will be as good as the local manager. If that person cares about the community, and is good at running school bus operations, the community is going to have a positive experience. If the reverse is true, the community will not have a positive experience. In my opinion, the quality of the transportation operation rests on the shoulders of all Transportation Managers, whether employed by School Districts or by private contractors, nation-wide.
What I don't care for, and always object to, is the people who paint all private companies with the same brush, the brush of sweeping generalizion. It's very much like what happens when fanatics start dicussing evil corporations (all corporations are bad and all corporations are destroying the fabric of our country - to which I always interject, "Mine isn't.) Consider the following comments from the article:
We are a private company.
We operate every day with student safety as our first, though not only, priority. We also care about accountability to our School District, our community, our customers, and our employees.
Our drivers, though non-union employees, care about their students, often going to great lengths to make a student's day better. We are not regularly late, although we have had the rare situation that results in tardiness. Our drivers don't stop to smoke, leaving kids unattended or in unsafe situations. We have disallowed cell phone use while our vehicles are in operation long before the law disallowed it. I have many other examples of this particular private company leading the way along safe paths (implementing drug and alcohol testing before it was mandatory, requesting improvements to bus design, leading the way in student and public education, and belonging to our community...).
I don't think that was the point of the article.
Really, the crux of the matter has nothing to do with student safety or the contributions of private contractors to student transportation in the state of Minnesota. The crux, I believe, appears in one of the final paragraphs of the article:
First, when did "profit" become a bad word? Profit, essentially, is ending the month with a little cash left in the bank after all the bills and expenses are paid. And honestly, don't we all want to make a profit? And understand, I am referring to modest, reasonable profits; I think multi-million dollar packages for CEOs of corporations are ridiculous and insane.
Further, if that private bus company can provide safe and efficient transportation services and if they can offer those services for less than what the district is paying currently (even including their nasty profit), why wouldn't tax payers be in favor of reducing costs?
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Safe Driving!
Kari
It often occurs to me that many people, including many journalists, missed those sweeping generalization lectures. Today I read an article in the Minneapolis Labor Review (No. 11, March 23, 2012) about the Robinsdale School District voting to outsource their transportation to a private company. The decision was made because the school district's skyrocketing costs are out of line with what other districts are paying for transportation. Apparently, the community is in an uproar. I think that's typical of any community facing a massive change that affects students.
However, I would imagine, as is the case in most similar situations, that drivers will be offered employment with the new private company. And lest we get caught up in the debate about the quality of the private company, I assert that the company will be as good as the local manager. If that person cares about the community, and is good at running school bus operations, the community is going to have a positive experience. If the reverse is true, the community will not have a positive experience. In my opinion, the quality of the transportation operation rests on the shoulders of all Transportation Managers, whether employed by School Districts or by private contractors, nation-wide.
What I don't care for, and always object to, is the people who paint all private companies with the same brush, the brush of sweeping generalizion. It's very much like what happens when fanatics start dicussing evil corporations (all corporations are bad and all corporations are destroying the fabric of our country - to which I always interject, "Mine isn't.) Consider the following comments from the article:
- Speaker after speaker expressed fears for student safety if transportation is handed over to a private contractor.
- Privatizing is bad for students, parents, taxpayers...
- Busses [sic] currently operated by private contractors are regularly late and students tell her stories of those private contractor's drivers stopping to smoke or talk on cell phones.
We are a private company.
We operate every day with student safety as our first, though not only, priority. We also care about accountability to our School District, our community, our customers, and our employees.
Our drivers, though non-union employees, care about their students, often going to great lengths to make a student's day better. We are not regularly late, although we have had the rare situation that results in tardiness. Our drivers don't stop to smoke, leaving kids unattended or in unsafe situations. We have disallowed cell phone use while our vehicles are in operation long before the law disallowed it. I have many other examples of this particular private company leading the way along safe paths (implementing drug and alcohol testing before it was mandatory, requesting improvements to bus design, leading the way in student and public education, and belonging to our community...).
I don't think that was the point of the article.
Really, the crux of the matter has nothing to do with student safety or the contributions of private contractors to student transportation in the state of Minnesota. The crux, I believe, appears in one of the final paragraphs of the article:
If the district contracts out for its school bus operations, school district dollars will become a source of profit for a private bus company, instead of going towards [sic] union wage jobs and benefits.
First, when did "profit" become a bad word? Profit, essentially, is ending the month with a little cash left in the bank after all the bills and expenses are paid. And honestly, don't we all want to make a profit? And understand, I am referring to modest, reasonable profits; I think multi-million dollar packages for CEOs of corporations are ridiculous and insane.
Further, if that private bus company can provide safe and efficient transportation services and if they can offer those services for less than what the district is paying currently (even including their nasty profit), why wouldn't tax payers be in favor of reducing costs?
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Safe Driving!
Kari
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
When Turkeys Attack!
In Cumberland County, New Jersey one bus had a very unexpected passenger. Edwin Ramos was driving the bus last Friday morning on County Route 553 when a turkey smashed through the windshield. Yes, a turkey actually went through the school buses' window. While the bird did not survive the crash, Ramos and three students on board had to be treated for minor injuries they got from the shattered glass.
If you can remember back to november, a deer also went through the windsheild of a school bus. Causing excessive damage but no injuries since the bus was empty. I dont know what has been up with all these animals trying to get rides on the bus but I can think of a few better ways to do it.
Thank You,
Haleigh
Monday, March 5, 2012
Kindergarten Here We Come!
Tonight we meet with the new kindergarten students starting school in September. Please view our presentation and see what we have to say to the students and their parents.
This is the most exciting time of the year for us!
Kindergarten Students
This is the most exciting time of the year for us!
Kindergarten Students
Friday, March 2, 2012
On Board Bus Monitors
In Idaho Falls, Idaho, Bonneville County Joint School District (JSD) 93 is taking a proactive stance on school bus bullying. They are launching a program that will hopefully solve not only the bullying but other behavior and discipline problems happening on board. Five years ago they had security cameras installed in their buses as a first step in this fight, but when the feed-back came in, it wasn't as good as they wanted. 
Now they are trying to have adult bus monitors on board. This is a volunteer position and they have no active role in disciplining the students. The monitors will be given a clip board on which they are to record and keep track of the behavioral problems for the day. They will also be in charge of handing out "Bus Bucks" which the students can turn for prizes.
Now they are trying to have adult bus monitors on board. This is a volunteer position and they have no active role in disciplining the students. The monitors will be given a clip board on which they are to record and keep track of the behavioral problems for the day. They will also be in charge of handing out "Bus Bucks" which the students can turn for prizes.They do not expect to have someone on every route and so they plan to try to disperse the volunteers evenly through-out this trial period. To be a volunteer they must first undergo a back ground check, the same one the school uses. For extra help with the program (JSD) 93 is looking into recruiting at retirement establishments.
I think this is a great idea! We will sometimes have extra people on board when we are told about repeated incidents. If we could prevent problems by simply having an extra set of adult eyes present it would be wonder. It is also an easy way to be active in your community if you are someone who takes pleasure in helping others! I wish you luck (JSD) 93!
Thank You,
Haleigh
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