Richmond County Still Working on School Bus Issues
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Richmond County Still Working on School Bus Issues...
Parents say they're concerned their children are riding overcrowded buses, in many cases standing on the bus to and from school. The district says they're working to correct transportation issues....
Parents say they’re concerned their children are riding overcrowded buses, in many cases standing on the bus to and from school. The district says they’re working to correct transportation issues. WJBF News Channel 6’s Paige Tucker reports.
Published: August 11, 2009
Updated: August 12, 2009
Augusta, GA—Tuesday morning, the school bus for an apartment complex on Washington Road was already packed. “When they pulled up, the kids that got on this stop, had to stand up on the bus,“ says Andrea Brown.
Brown’s been worried about her niece since school started Friday. She says the bus taking the five-year old to school is has been overcrowded and unsafe.
Richmond County Schools Spokesman Louis Svehla says transportation problems happen at the beginning of every school year, but what are usually typical problems this year are aggravated by budget cuts, rezoning and staff shortages. A mass rezoning affected 99 of 162 county buses. “You don’t know over the summer who’s going to move into an area, who’s going to move out of an area. Another good example is what they did with closing Underwood Homes and those students being dispersed around the county. As those things happen, we have to make adjustments,“ says Louis Svehla.
“I don’t care about a budget, it’s about children’s safety. And that should be in the budget,“ says Brown.
After the neighborhood’s experience this morning with an overcrowded bus, their children came home with some wiggle room. A second bus was sent to Garrett Elementary for relief, giving parents some peace of mind. “These are our children, and they need to be protected. We make sure our children are protected in our cars, they need to protect them in buses, too,“ says Lynn Fitzgerald.
Svehla says parents with bus issues should call their child’s school, instead of the Transportation Department. Someone at the school will help resolve the issue and get back with the parent.
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If the government had to actually pay for all of the things they require to survive ( they’re own health insurance without a $5000.00 deductable per person, their own transportation,hotels when at conferences…)and then give themselves a pay-cut (instead of bonuses) like they did to the education system, and not pay them for when they are not in session (like the teachers during summer and vactions. Teachers have alot of their summer pay come out of their paychecks each pay period, so they are actually paying themselves to be out) THEN and only then will they understand why it hurts to take a decrease in pay when everything else is sky-rocketing. Let their kids get on a bus where you sit 3 to a seat instead of being taken by a driver. Or go to a school where teachers have 28 or more students to a class and teachers still have to pay for most of their supplies that they need to teach big classes. Richmond County is growing more and more and the government of georgia and the KEEPERS of the United States (thats what I call the dummies at the capital and elsewhere who decide these dumb shortages are the only way to go.) need to realize that if they emphasize how important education is , then they need to start giving so kids can get to school safer and the schools are staffed accordingly instead of worrying which kind of caviar goes good with their jamies.
I am a teacher in Richmond County. My school dismisses at 3. We are suppose to plan from 3-4. I have a room full of kids who ride a late bus. They do not leave until 4. My pay has been cut 150-200 dollars a month, yet I am expected to baby sit every afternoon for an extra hour. It is a shame that the government can find money to bail out crooks like AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup but they can’t bail out education. What’s wrong with this picture?
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