Parent Says School Bus is Overcrowded

Laurie Walker stepped up during the public comment period at the Board of Education Monday night to tell the board members, that she thinks her daughter's school bus is overcrowded. Before she pulled her off the bus, Walker's daughter was getting to Saxe Middle School on Bus #8, which transports a mix of middle and high school students. That bus is rated by the manufacturer as having a capacity of 29, with five rows of two seats on each side accommodating three children, except for the back row where the seats are designed to fit three and two.

"Generally they fit three smaller elementary school age persons, or two high school age persons," Walker said of the seats. "Right away there is a gray area for the bus capacity that's stamped on the side of the bus."

Walker expressed concern about the safety of the current set up, suggesting that some students are spilling out of the seats. "The only thing that prevents them from flying (in case of an accident) is the seat in front of them," she said. She also questioned the "morality of squeezing two 10th grade boys into a seat with an 8th grade girl."

District Transportation Coordinator Roy Walder said in an interview Tuesday that 26 high school and middle school students, including Walker's daughter, are assigned to Bus #8, but not every student who's assigned actually takes the bus to school. Last Monday, Sept. 14, Walder says 11 high schoolers and 8 middle schoolers rode the bus in the morning, only requiring students to sit two to a seat. There were 19 students on the bus again Tuesday, 18 on Wednesday, and 16 Thursday and Friday.

"There are three girls who always sit together in the front seat; they don't have to. If these kids decide they want to have each other's company, I can't do anything about that," Walder said. "There's nobody sitting in the aisle; there's nobody standing."

Walder said he would review the bus driver's head counts and video taken on Bus #8 over a series of school days, to see if it's overloaded. He also said that, while some buses are "fully loaded," there have been no serious problems with student transportation so far this year.

The Board of Education did not respond to Laurie Walker's comments on Monday. As per the policy regarding any parent who has a concern about student transportation, if Walker is not satisfied with Walder's review or subsequent responses from Director of Operations Michael Lagas and Superintendent David Abbey, she can petition the board in writing using a form available from the district's Business Office, to appeal a ruling on the matter by the administration.