Sat Feb 11 2012
by Tim Troglen
Reporter
Hudson -- "A typical start."
That's what school officials called the Aug. 25 return to class of approximately 5,000 Hudson City School District students.
District officials said there were no major problems, although they did field an estimated 300 calls from parents regarding busing between Aug. 24 and Aug. 26 as a new provider, Petermann Inc., took over the district's transportation services.
"There are always adjustments that have to be made within the first two weeks of school," Communications Manager Sheryl Sheatzley said.
Most of the complaints dealt with the length of bus rides and early pick-up times, said Hudson Schools Business Manager Derek Cluse.
"Over the next five to 10 days, the drivers are collecting data such as who is actually riding the bus and how much extra time they have built into their routes based upon actual conditions," Cluse said. "So far the data suggests that a large percentage of high school students are not riding the bus. If that trend continues for the next few days we will gradually reduce the route times and push the early pick up times to later times."
It also takes more time to load buses in the afternoon during the first days of class, because the students are unsure where their buses are parked, Cluse said.
"Once they learn the bus lineups, they will load the buses faster and the buses will start dropping of students sooner," Cluse said "Based upon the data I am seeing right now, I expect that we will be able to shave a significant amount of time off the longer routes."
Petermann, a Cincinnati based company, took over the transportation duties this year after out-bidding the previous provider, First Student.
"We had some buses a little too early at some stops, and some buses a little late arriving at the schools," said Joe Faessler, vice president of business development for Petermann. "We spent the day refining our bus routes, adding children, changing stops, and therefore adjusting the route times slightly."
Most parents who called the transportation center were "very understanding," Faessler said.
Most of the calls were parents asking to confirm time and place for pick-up and drop-offs, change pick-up locations or add a child to a bus, Faessler said.
"We simply are asking for their continued patience as we fine tune the routes -- we've logged every call, and will follow up with the parents," he said.
Faessler praised the Hudson drivers who worked during the summer on the new routing system.
"The drivers in Hudson are incredible," Faessler said. "They spent so many hours this summer practicing their routes and helping us design the new routes to accommodate the bell time changes and the change from a three-tier system to two, which is a major change."
One driver admitted to Faessler that the summer work was a "burden," Faessler said.
"But he felt it paid off today," he added.
Administrators were at each building "to personally observe the buses arriving and departing," Sheatzley said.
"When standing at the buildings and observing the kids being dropped off, it really seemed like a routine day," Cluse said. "Despite the early pick-up times for many of our families, Petermann executed the routes very well this morning."
Some buses arrived a little early at the stops and some children did not get to their bus stops early enough, so they initially missed the bus, Cluse said.
But if the parent called the bus garage and reported it, Petermann either sent the bus back or rerouted a bus in the area to go back and get the child, Cluse added.
"Early reports from the drivers confirm that there is ample opportunity to shorten route times and move morning pick up times forward," Cluse said. "This will occur in a gradual manner so accurate adjustments can be made."
Some morning route pick-up times will be adjusted 10 to 25 minutes later, Cluse said.
"After the two weeks [of class], students who have not ridden the bus will be dropped from the route thereby resulting in shorter route times," Cluse said. "Later on, if a student decides to ride the bus full-time the service will be provided."
The district is asking for patience for parents who are concerned about the amount of time that students are riding the bus or how early buses are picking up their children, Cluse said.
"Our first priority is to pick up and drop off children in a safe and efficient manner," Cluse said. "We anticipate many opportunities to improve the efficiency of the routes over the next two weeks once we know who is riding the bus and who is not -- the result of gaining that insight will be later pick up times and shorter travel times for many students."
The district is working to resolve any issues with the transportation, Cluse said.
"We will rectify the problem immediately," Cluse said. "We just need parents to call and discuss it with the transportation center."
To report problems, call the transportation center at 330-653-3355.
E-mail: ttroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146
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