Concerned about the safety of their children, a group of parents recently addressed the Clarkston School Board about changing the location of an area school bus stop.
Several parents took turns speaking at the Oct. 10 school board meeting.
The board could not rule on the matter at the meeting because the decision must be made at an administrative level, according to Superintendent Dr. Al Roberts. School Board President Karen Foyteck said the matter would be turned over to the administration for further evaluation.
A group of 11 parents are concerned about 12 students ? including four kindergartners, one first-grader two second-graders, one third-grader, one fourth-grader, one fifth-grader and two eighth-graders’who are currently picked up at the intersection of Foster and Clement roads in Springfield Township.
The parents asked that the bus stop, which is part of two bus routes, one for Andersonville Elementary and the other for Clarkston Junior High School, be relocated to the entrance of their subdivision at Caribou Lake Lane and Clement Road, which is slightly less than a half-mile down the road from the stop’s current location.
Both Foster and Clement are unpaved rolling roads, surrounded by trees on both sides.
Roberts expressed concern for the parents in the situation, but also highlighted how the bus stop in question compares with others throughout the district.
‘We run a very basic bus system. We transport about 6,000 kids a day. Sixty percent of our roads are rural-type roads,? Roberts said
Tim Brennan was one of the parents who spoke at the school board meeting. He and his wife Angie have two children that take the bus to and from school every day. Brennan said he contacted the administration and spoke with Roberts on several occasions about resolving the dispute.
Brennan said the need for change came as the number of students utilizing the stop increased significantly over the last year. According to Brennan this is the result of four children entering kindergarten and new students enrolling at Andersonville Elementary after the removal of School of Choice.
‘The safety of going to and from the bus stop has always been an issue. Whether it’s one kid or eight kids, it’s the same safety issues,? said Brennan. However, Brennan added that because more familes use the stop now, the complexity of the intersection has become a problem.
Currently, several of the concerned parents said they drive their children to the bus stop and wait in their cars for the bus to arrive, which Brennan said causes traffic congestion, complaints from neighbors and occasional harassment from other drivers.
Nancy Galik, who has two daughters, one on each bus, feels with conditions as they currently are, she will not allow her daughter to stand at the bus stop waiting for the bus to CJHS to arrive. Galik said the bus is currently scheduled to arrive at 6:35 a.m., a time where she feels unlit intersection is too dark. Galik said she also fears for the safety of her children if they had to walk along Clement.
‘They get dropped off at the end of that street. You can only hear so far into the woods. Your voice is only going to go so far. So if a child was crying for help, nobody is going to hear them,? Galik said.
Robert Laing also has two children picked up at the stop. Laing talked about why he likes the community his family lives in.
‘We’re a very family-orientated subdivision,? Laing said. ‘We have a lot of families here, a lot of kids. We like that. That’s part of why we are here.?
‘I can’t see how a single member on that board or anyone that’s in a position to make a decision on this issue’can look themselves in the mirror and say ‘I would send my kids down there?? I don’t think they would.?
Roberts said the parents originally requested the change from the transportation department, but were denied. In a letter responding to one of the requests, Kevin Bickerstaff, transportation director, said the current stop is within the board’s guidelines and that a route from the current stop to Caribou Lake Lane ‘is not user friendly for a bus to travel.? After being denied. the request followed an extended appeals process, according to Roberts.
Brennan said the parent have made numerous requests for the stop to be evaluated over the past year.
On August 11, David Knill, who has three children who use the stop, wrote a letter to Roberts, Foyteck, and Linda Nester, executive director of human resources. In the letter, Knill dismissed the idea that the parents are looking for door-to-door pick-up service, saying, ‘We are more than happy to have the children walk to and congregate at a single location at the entrance to the subdivision to facilitate efficient collection and avoid unnecessary and potentially risky maneuvers by the bus driver. We are simply trying to alleviate what we view to be a significant safety risk.?
However, Roberts said members of the school administration feel relocating the stop to the requested location would not resolve the safety issue. Roberts said, especially after snowfall, maneuvering a bus down the uneven Clement road would be dangerous to the children on the bus.
Roberts confirmed that since the latest board meeting, several members of the administration have visited the intersection and collected information.
‘I’ve had two administrators monitoring that street and the traffic pattern at the time the kids get on the bus in the morning and so forth. We have not found any trucks during the time that we have been there. We have not witnessed any harassment as they were concerned about,? Roberts said.
In a letter addressed to the parents and dated Oct. 12, Dr. Roberts stated, ‘We seem to agree that the safety of children is a tremendous responsibility; but, Clarkston Schools relies on parents to assist us in ensuring that our children are safe. This assistance includes parental monitoring, supervision and in some cases, parents transporting their children to designated bus stop locations.?
Though Brennan agrees with Roberts that the district has an excellent safety record, he expressed frustration with the amount of time the debate has taken and feels the administration has not yet made any suggestions on how to resolve the situation.
‘I don’t think (the administration) ever denied that safety is a priority and that safety is a concern in this situation,? said Brennan. ‘The question is whether or not something should be done and I think the answer is yes. The second question is what should be done, and we feel, at this point, we’ve not been offered a single thing.?
Roberts said money is not a factor in the decision, but noted that the administration does not put aside extra money for transportation. Regardless, Roberts said he is hoping to speak with Brennan and the other families involved in the next few days to discuss a possible solution.
‘There’s nothing we gain by having parents upset with us,? Roberts said. ‘I will need to look at where the other stops in that area are and provide those parents with options, but that’s the best we can do.?