Transportation...Again

Lots of questions still remain about busing in the Ann Arbor school district.

1. Who to call for complaints?
Answer: Robert Allen (Deputy Superintendent and former Interim Superintendent) says that people with complaints about transportation can call his office: 994-2250.

2. Why am I getting reports of 4 kids to a seat on certain bus routes?

3. Why am I getting reports that kids who live beyond the 1-1/2 mile walk zone cannot get buses because no routes have been assigned to them?

4. Is it true that special education kids who need assistance getting into the buildings are not getting assistance because the "bus drivers don't have enough time?"

5. When will the WISD provide information on how much the district actually saved last year; and what it costs to get additional bus stops or buses?

6. After all is said and done--what is the plan for evaluating these transportation troubles, and who will be involved in the evaluation? [Hint: I hope there will be some non-school-board-member parents involved.] As my ninth grade math teacher was fond of saying, "It's o.k. to make mistakes, but it's better to make different mistakes every time."

Overheard in a school office, one administrative staff to another after hearing yet another complaint about the buses:

"Everybody hates transportation now."

I had to interject, "Well, people don't hate the bus drivers."

"No," the staff person agreed. "People don't hate the bus drivers."