Ypsilanti school district's busing problems are impacting teachers, union president says
Ypsilanti teachers union president Kelly Powers says continued problems with the district's new transportation system are being felt in the classroom.
“It’s a catch 22,” Powers, president of the Ypsilanti Education Association, said at Monday’s school board meeting. “Learning time for all these students is important, and it's frustrating for teachers that we’re told all the time to get test scores up. and it’s hard to do that if the kids aren’t in school.”
“It’s said that you get what you pay for, and guess what? You did.”
It’s been almost a month since administrators and trustees from Ypsilanti started hearing complaints regarding the district's new busing system, now run by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Ypsilanti joined the consortium along with the Ann Arbor and Willow Run school districts.
Problems are continuing with Ypsilanti's new bus service.
File | For AnnArbor.com
Parents told trustees about how their children arrived to school about an hour late and weren't able to get the breakfast the schools provide. Superintendent Dedrick Martin said Monday was the first he had heard of buses arriving to schools more than one hour late for at least a week.
Martin said this week is the first with the full complement of new employees hired to drive Ypsilanti routes. While many of the new drivers were going through the certification process, substitutes and retired drivers from other districts were taking their place.
“We had experienced drivers but not experienced with Ypsilanti routes,” he said.
Martin said he's been getting daily reports on transportation. He said the latest arrivals he heard of in the last week were at 8:40 a.m., 28 minutes after elementary classes begin.
Routing issues are continuing to be fixed, Martin said. Traditionally, Ypsilanti schools have provided door-to-door busing for kindergartners. However, the WISD didn't change the routing for current first graders, meaning both kindergartners and first graders were getting door-to-door service, an increase from 200 students to 500 students getting the service.
Trustee Andy Fanta said he wasn't surprised the issues were persisting. He suggested the superintendent contact other members of the consortium and compare notes on how they are dealing with their issues.
Trustee Kira Berman invited the WISD to the board table to answer trustees’ questions on what's going wrong.
“I don’t think this is a wise use of our students’ time,” she said.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.
Comments
ypsigirl
Sat, Oct 9, 2010 : 5:33 p.m.
The bus ver knew my son was on the wrong bus. He told her from the start "I don't live over here" She told him to sit down and be quiet-which he did. She had the ability to call the garage and tell them she had him and to let the parents/school know. Proper channels were not followed. I TRUST my child to people who supposedly know how to do their jobs. Peace of mind was a phone call away. My child was terrified he would not get home and cried all the way. She just kept telling him to be quiet. Again, she did not follow what could have been done. I do not get free meals or food stamps so don't even go there. I pay my taxes, make sure my child is clean, fed and well rested before he goes to school. I trust them to keep him safe while he is under their care. He will not get on another bus to or from school. He could ride now. He would ride approx and hour in the morning and 1 1/2 in the afternoon. We live about 5 minutes form the school. Easier and safer to take him ourselves. The problem is people don't care about the children they only see dollar signs. No amount of money could compensate me if something happened to my child while in YPS's care. People just don't care anymore.
jns131
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 9:17 p.m.
It was not a rumor nor a speculation. It is the truth about WISD and what their plans are. Truth be told, but I guess not here. Truth be told I told you so when it does happen.
sad day
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 9:18 a.m.
I just drove by Perry school....A sign saying bus drivers needed apply at WISD. What a joke. This should of all been done before they through the drivers under the bus. I see this plan is really working. Good job Ypsilanti school board.
MGoYpsi
Wed, Sep 29, 2010 : 8:39 a.m.
Maybe Mr.Martin can get in his car that YPS is paying for and drive to the schools and spot check to see if the buses are on schedule. If they are not on time,he can call transportation on his cell phone that YPS is paying for.
ypsilanti
Wed, Sep 29, 2010 : 7:41 a.m.
Same old, same old. Back when Dr. Zuhkle was in charge, he wanted to switch to a new computer generated route system. You guessed it, kids were late to school and at times over two hours getting home from school. Total disaster. None of my kids have ridden a school bus since then. Then came Dr. Hawkins and the push to "privatize" the bus dept., which thankfully was rejected as it called to replace drivers with workers making slightly more than minimum wage (just the people I want driving a 20 ton bus with my kids on it). Now, the WISD hires drivers for significantly less than they were getting paid and expects everything to go smoothly? If you are going to have buses, they need to be done right. If you can't do them right, get rid of them, make parents responsible for getting their children to school, and put the savings into educating the children.
sad day
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 5:56 p.m.
The free breakfast program has been around for about three years. It is not based on income, all children qualify and eat for free, and so do their teachers if they choose to. I don't mind feeding a hungry child, but resent my tax dollars feeding these selfish teachers that make twice as much money than me. I also resent all micro-management that is going on in YPS. There were highly qualified bus drivers that are now in the unemployment line, what a shame when these folks are the first and last person to see your child every day, they are drivers, nurses, story tellers and the friend that tells the new student that everyone will be fine and that in a couple of days, you'll be happy to see my yellow monster. Shame on you Ypsilanti Administration, you may have big education but you have no common sense!!!!!!
jns131
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 5:28 p.m.
This is not YPS to fix, but an ill advised and an ill prepared WISD who thought they could be super heroes to save the day and kill over 500 jobs just to help three districts save some loot. They did not. They ended up hiring new drivers over experienced ones and cherry picked the rest if not black listed them. So, here is my take on the whole thing. Fire WISD and start over with the way things were. Parents happy and Washtenaw County without a 10% unemployment rate. No thanks to WISD who increased this rate at the beginning of summer. Time to think who is the real culprit here. I do agree with one thing here. Time to re think charters and schools who did not out source and lay off all their drivers just to save a few bucks. Good luck YPS. I don't see a solution with WISD involved.
Monica R-W
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 4:55 p.m.
This is YPS problem to quickly fix. They decided to dismiss trained and knowledgeable bus drivers to "save money". Well, if parents now decide in January 2011 to move their children to various school districts that can ensure, the kids arriving to and from school ON TIME, the YPS-BOE will have no one to blame except themselves. Let's see, between $6000-$7000 is received by the state, per student. Twenty parents decide to go elsewhere to obtain a better transportation system for their children. That's $120,0000 in lost district dollars. Increase that number to 100 kids, it is $600,000 or a big part of the annual school budget. I am sure Lincoln & Van Buren Public Schools would love to accept some of these students. It is highly possible the charter schools will gain the rest. Regardless, YPS has to deal with another hole. What will they do next, cut school based lunch or breakfast programs? Fix the top heavy administration pay and the district MIGHT be able to save some serious dollars....without hurting children, in the process.
Cash
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 2:24 p.m.
Mikey2u, I will never turn down a hungry child. IF the parents don't feed them, then someone needs to do so. You can judge the parents but don't leave the kids hungry. As I am over 65 there was no such program when I was a child. But even then there was a government subsidy for milk. And yes, I do remember some kids were hungry. And some kids couldn't buy a lunch and the ladies who worked in the cafeteria would but them lunch. I'd sooner see my taxes go to hungry kids then to Wall Street.
Forever27
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 10 a.m.
@engineer, it is exactly what you are asking for that is the cause of this situation. But hey, at least the evil boogie man gummit has less power right?
MGoYpsi
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.
"We had experienced drivers but not experienced with Ypsilanti routes, he(Martin) said. What is Martin doing? Very poor planning and unacceptable. Shouldn't this be a top priority, before the year starts? I hope he gets them there on time on count day.
jns131
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 8:04 a.m.
Yanno what Ypsigirl? You told off the wrong person. The person to tell off is the Ypsi board, transportation and the superintendent. That poor driver probably had no idea where your son was suppose to go and on the first day? O my word. It is people like you that make our jobs a lot harder. We do as we are told and do what we are told to go. As for late children? It is because you are getting drivers from two other consolidated districts that as the article states, no clue as to where the children go to. Even if you hire new drivers it is going to take at least 2 weeks to get use to the route and get to know the children. AND if a driver goes out? Guess what? Again you are going to have late buses because they are going to send subs from Ann Arbor to Willow Run and Ypsi to drive that bus. Which that driver will have no clue about those city streets. It isn't the drivers fault that your district consolidate. It is the fault of the board and WISD who have no clue as to the blank they are doing. They still don't. When the three consolidated? They ended careers of great drivers who really cared about your children. WISD hired drivers who need the money more then they care about the job. Good luck Ann Arbor Ypsi and Willow Run. You got duped.
Steve Pepple
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 7:56 a.m.
A comment that violated our conversation guidelines by making unverifiable accusations against a teacher has been removed.
Mikey2u
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 7:54 a.m.
Cash, I didn't qualify for school provided busing, breakfast or lunch because those services were not provided. My family was very poor and we lived on spam and pinto beans. I walked to Holmes Elementary and Edmonson Junior High. Sometimes I was hungry. If these children qualify for food assistance at school, then their parents must quality for food stamps. Is it too much to ask for the parents to feed their children before sending them to school? Where do these kids eat during the summer months? This is too much Government intervention and explains why taxes are so high.
ViSHa
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 7:50 a.m.
@Grant. Hopefully those missing 15 days are the last two weeks of school where there is nothing but parties and field trips, lol. About the busing, they really need to get this together, getting on time to school often sets the tone of the day.
Grant
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 7:01 a.m.
I am saddened that children are arriving late. Hopefully this issue will be resolved in the near future. When Ms. Powers says the teachers are losing instructional time; what does she think about her success in reducing the contract from 185 days to 170 days of instruction?
Cash
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 5:11 a.m.
@Engineer, How is changing the bus issue in Ypsilanti related to the US president? Are the Birthers thinking that the bus drivers were born in Kenya? @Mikey2u, Food is furnished for the children of people with extremely low income. I guess it's a good sign that perhaps you and I didn't qualify. I'm glad those kids get something to eat in the morning.
ypsigirl
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 3:25 a.m.
My son, who goes to Adams and has rode the Ypsilanti Public Schools bus ONCE. That was the ifrst day of school LAST year. We took him to school, met the teacher, looked around, the first day stuff and decided to let him ride the bus home. When the bus came to the stop and my son didn't get off, I dialed the Bus Garage phone number. NOBODY answered, I was connected to a message. For over an hour NOBODY answered the phone even after I drove over to the school, took several people out of a meeting and proceeded to fall apart. I trusted the bus driver with one of the most precious people in my life and he was put on the wrong bus and the driver KNEW he was on the bus all along. When my neighbor called my cell, while I was out looking for the bus to tell me the bus just dropped him off at home 2 hours late. I sped home, cut the bus off and proceeded to let the driver know exactly how I felt about the transportation system in the Ypsilanti Schools. I asked her if she had a radio or cell phone that she could have called and let SOMEBODY know she had the wrong kid on the wrong bus-she would not answer me. I think management is only PART of the problem with the transportation department. You also need drivers who also CARE about doing a good job not just driving around and getting paid for it. My child will NEVER get on another Ypsilanti Public Schools bus to ride back and forth to school. My older kids went to Lincoln and we NEVER had a problem with the buses or drivers. Whatever happened to pride in your work and the people you work for and with? Examine the process and solve the problems, don't just compound the problem by turning it over to more people who could care less.
Deverdon
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 12:13 a.m.
Wow. I didn't realize the Obama was now the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. This was an attempt (successful or not) to LESSEN bureaucracy and consolidate resources. You have to love election season to bring out the common sense in people. I'll see you at the Rally to Restore Sanity to America.
Mikey2u
Mon, Sep 27, 2010 : 10:29 p.m.
"Parents told trustees about how their children arrived to school about an hour late and weren't able to get the breakfast the schools provide." When did schools start providing breakfast to students? A lot has changed since I was a kid.
Engineer
Mon, Sep 27, 2010 : 9:48 p.m.
More government intervention messing things up. Time to shring government and taxes by about ten fold. This is just one small example. Hopefully people will wake up after making One Big Awful Mistake America.