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District Considers Combining Public/Private School Bus Routes

Centennial's ad hoc committee on the elementary bell schedule has reached out to Nativity and Our Lady of Good Counsel during its search for a workable solution.

When the 2012-2013 school year starts in September, students from Davis Elementary may be sharing a bus with students from .

Since its formation at the May 22 school board meeting, the ad hoc committee on the elementary bell schedule has met a few times at the district administration building to create a viable solution to a . Members of the committee include parents and administrators from the three regional elementary schools, district administrators, school board directors and representatives from the transportation department.

According to blog posts on the Centennial web site, members of the committee are confident they can create a new schedule that does not have any of the three elementary schools dismissing at 3:45 p.m., a main point of contention for parents who feel that the later dismissal takes too much time away from extracurricular activities and family time.

One of the keys to the solution is streamlining the routes with the parochial schools also serviced by the Centennial buses, and OLGC. The principals from both schools met with the committee last week to provide their own input.

"I'm glad they called us in and listened to us," said Nativity principal Roselee Maddaloni. "It's a very complex problem, and we have to be open to all options."

Maddaloni made it clear that it would be impossible to alter Nativity's start and end times because students are also bused from other neighboring districts.

"I can't call up Central Bucks our Council Rock and tell them we are opening earlier," said Maddaloni. "Then they will have to restructure their own schedules and it becomes a bigger mess."

The original plan was to have something to present to the operations committee on June 4, then forwarded to the June 12 school board meeting. Committee chair Mark Miller said that a special school board meeting will be held sometime after June 12 for the final vote on the district budget. The ad hoc committee will make a presentation of its findings then, with time allotted for community comment.

Some have bristled about the lack of clear notifications when the ad hoc committee meets. According to the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, committees that are formed for informational purposes and do not hold any decision-making authority are not required to advertise meetings.

"The committee will produce recommendations that will go before a standing committee or the full school board at an advertised public meeting," said Miller. 

Denise June 5, 2012 at 08:11 pm
Why doesn't someone look into why the Southampton Archbishop Wood kids have to be bused to Tennent and then get on a bus to Wood while the Warminster kids go directly to Wood. Southampton residents pay the same taxes if they are going to do that they should switch every year so the Southampton kids get a break. Also the OLGC kids start earlier than the public schools so how would that work out.
Avery Walsh, PhD June 5, 2012 at 08:24 pm
This has bad news written all over it...
Ken Woodring June 6, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Denise - made the same comments toi Mark Miller via the Ad Hoc blog and never received a response. Who says discrimination doesn't exist today?
Pamela June 6, 2012 at 12:40 pm
actually it is a very good idea. If the children are going in the same direction, there is no reason to put them on different buses. This is why we have a shortage of buses and children are left stranded at schools an hour after dismissal times. It is called a misuse of resources which is what this district has been doing for years. It is about time someone other than administration came up with common sense solutions to the problems.
Debbie June 6, 2012 at 02:00 pm
I agree Denise. In addition, at dismissal some Southampton children are dismissed from Wood travel through Southmapton before being bussed to Klinger. They transfer busses and are bussed with middle schoolers.
Private school bussing is even worse.
Pamela June 6, 2012 at 02:17 pm
If AB Wood is located in Warminster, why would anyone bus Warminster kids to WT instead of directly to AB Wood???
Mark B Miller June 7, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Everyone, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Busing for AB Wood is not part of the ad hoc committee's mission. However, we are looking to optimize our fleet and may have a few more buses to use, so more students in our secondary and elementary school runs will benefit by having shorter and more direct routes. Right now, our attention is focused on the elementary school start and end times.
http://www.centennialsd.org/Page/5736
Pamela June 7, 2012 at 03:17 pm
Everyone???? Please take note that ONE (1) comment with THREE (3) replies were directed to AB WOOD. The other TWO comments were directed to the article, which IS ABOUT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE'S MISSION. I really wish people would look up the definitions of their wording prior to implementing them in sentences. Such as EVERYONE, implying ALL: and Arbitary implying random, and Capricious implying Flighty or fickle.....
Mark B Miller June 8, 2012 at 02:55 am
Pamela, in my five short years as a public servant, and more than twenty years serving in various official capacities, I have never encountered anyone so totally obnoxious as you. Do you talk to the Sec Nav with that mouth? I am tired of hearing you pontificate on things you know nothing about.
Denise and Debbie raised a valid point which moved me to let them know I admired their thinking. Somehow, you saw that as an opportunity to try and give me a lesson in semantics. In this case, “everyone” in the context I used was appropriate because I intended to encompass those innocent people who may have been reading your vile swill. Further, you are probably not aware the terms “arbitrary and capricious”, when used concomitantly, take on an entirely different meaning than when used independently. Basically, my inference was to the effect the asserted factual premises and basis for certain actions requested of me were so unreasonable as to be “arbitrary”. The abuse you spew at my Board colleagues and me is way above our pay grade. As one of nine (that means I am speaking only for myself), I won’t take it any longer. You simply are not worth me wasting my time dealing with you. As of now, I won’t.
HONEST MOM June 8, 2012 at 01:00 pm
Mr. Miller I understand you may be frustrated with the unrest in the community and by comments made by parents but sir it is very unbecoming of an elected official to sling mud. You as an elected official should not be hurling comments.
I also find it hard to swallow that a school board member who feels he is being attacked has chosen to attack in return when the board's policy for the children is that if a child is attacked...verbally or physically they should not attack back! Very poor example. I really think you could have used your words more wisely in this situation. Please think before you speak sir.
Pamela June 8, 2012 at 01:43 pm
As I stated putting children who go in the same direction on the same bus makes sense. It is what every company does when it comes to the effective utlization of resources and time.(septa, trains,planes). This seems to be a very smart idea considering the issue that the district faces. I was not aware, as some parents pointed out that AB Wood students were bused to WT and then to AB Wood. This probably is due to the fact that there are not enough buses at this time. I do understand that there are members on the board who are trying to correct the mistakes of past Board decisions,and to those I do apologize, However a good portion of the community has many years of resentment towards the Boards' actions and they way they portray themselves. When parents asked for a list of options that the Ad Hoc Committee was considering, they were told that the request was ,arbitrary and capricious and that there was over 100 options. However if the parents provided their alternative, they would be told if it was one of the options on the list. To me this seemed a waste of precious time given the amount of time that the committee had to work with. I do not understand why the list could not be posted. This way the communtiy would know everything that the committee looked at and that the options they came up with were the only viable ones.
Pamela June 8, 2012 at 01:50 pm
To deny the community access to information and to talk to them with disrespect only increases their distrust and resentment of the Board. Now I am only stating the truth, but I don't know what I'm talking about so it may be i'm attacking the Board.
HONEST MOM June 8, 2012 at 02:45 pm
Pamela you're right. I do feel that some members of the board have dismissed concerned citizens and made very bad choices for far too long. Most of the members of the board have lost the trust of many for sure with the disrespect the community has been shown in the past.
I want to be clear. I was not stating that you attacked anyone. I was stating that even if Mr. Miller feels attacked there are other ways to deal with those feelings other than him attacking you back. An elected official should not be hurling insults...that never solves the issues.
Pamela June 8, 2012 at 04:48 pm
Honest Mom, I didn't think you were stating I attacked anyone. I understood completely what you were saying.
HONEST MOM June 8, 2012 at 04:50 pm
Thank you Pamela. Just wanted to make sure you knew:)
Pamela June 8, 2012 at 05:12 pm
Mr. Miller, I have been called many thing, but obnoxious has never been one of them. What I do know is that In five years, the Board(in general) has incurred $300 million in debt, 3 lawsuits, raised school taxes every year, taken a transportation problem and escalated into a transportation crisis. Now I understand that some do not like to justify or have their actions questioned, However, as a taxpayer, I take issue with the decisions that have led to this mess. As a citizens it is my right to bring attention to these decisions, demand answers, and even criticize them. Every elected official is requested to answer for his "yes" votes when it leads to a wrong decision. If you truly want to use the word obnoxious, please use it to refer to yourself, as I don't need to use big fancy words, insult people, or talk to others in a condescending tone as I've seen you do to parents and fellow board members.
Leann G. Russell June 19, 2012 at 10:55 pm
I would like to ask the board why we closed three schools. I thought it was to save money that could be used to buy more buses which we all knew would be needed to bus children who use to walk to their neighborhood schools to the new school they were to attend. Three years ago before any school was closed, the board was informed that with the reduction of schools from six to three that we would need to purchase larger buses. I remember this well and we the public was informed on just how much operational money would be saved by reducing our schools to three. Where did the money go that we should have saved by closing Davis two years ago? Where did the money go that we should have been saving this year by closing Leary? I ask you Board Members do you know? Operational money can be used to pay for the bus drivers we need. I would also like to know why the board has procrastinated in selling the four schools. We have an offer for over $400,000 for each school. This money could be used to purchase the needed buses. increases would not be needed to puchase buses. In all comes back to poor planning. You knew you would have to buy more buses since most of the walkers would be riders, but instead you did nothing and now we are left to raising taxes with a chance that we wont have the buses on time to start the new school year. What was suppose to save money (reducing school to three) is ending up costing us taxpayers more. Great Job! Well Done! Just raise taxes!
Lee

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