<p>By Lindsay Murray<br />Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer</p>
An estimated 50 parents and teachers told the Baltimore County Board of Education Tuesday that they were concerned that the on-going school bus shortage is jeopardizing the safety of students.
Holding signs saying, “Advocates for improved BCPS transportation” and “safety first,” parents said the school board must find a solution to a problem that has been going on for three years.
“We need to fix transportation,” said Sharon Saroff, a parent who addressed the board at the meeting. “This has been going on way too long. As a parent I am done with being patient. As a parent I am very concerned about safety.”
School officials said an estimated 84,000 students are transported twice a day in 855 buses.
Jessica Drake interrupted school officials as they discussed the the transportation report, saying she was frustrated that some children have to stand or sit on the floor in the aisles of moving buses, which is illegal in Maryland.
School board member Julie C. Henn said she gets photographs almost daily of kids seated on the floor, adding that school officials must act. “That’s not safe, it’s not legal for that to happen,” she said.
Parents said that buses are consistently late, causing students to miss out on vital instructional time.
Jennifer Johnson, a member of the Gunpowder Falls Elementary School PTA, said she waited for 40 minutes past the scheduled pick up time on the first day of school before scrambling along with other parents to get her son and about 12 other children to school.
“The children arrived over 30 minutes past the start of the school day on the first day of school,” Johnson said.
School board members agreed that late buses are a major problem.
“For teachers not to be able to begin instruction for 45 minutes simply because there’s only six out of 24 kids in a classroom, I have a problem with that,” board member Lily P. Rowe said.
Rowe and other board members asked school administration officials to develop recommendations on how the bus shortage can be resolved.
“How can we as the Board of Education of Baltimore County help you gentleman correct these problems?” asked board member Rodney R. McMillion.
The student member of the board personally apologized to students for the ongoing issue.
“Buses. I know this is a serious problem with our buses, and I personally have received messages from students about the wait of their busses and the overcrowding,” said Omer Reshid, the student member of the board. “As their student rep I want to let all students know that their safety and the reaching of their schools in a timely manner is at the top of the board’s concerns. We are working to do the best we can and I want to personally apologize to all the students about this serious situation.”
In other action, several speakers urged the school board to schedule the first day of school for the 2020-2021 academic year on Aug. 31 instead of after Labor Day. The board will hold a public hearing on the school calendar on Oct. 22 and will vote on it on Nov. 5.
The board also discussed the possibility of adding 15 minutes to each school day. Board members believe that this would allow for more flexibility in the school calendar as well as provide 15 extra instructional minutes a day. The board voted for this change in the budget process last year, but it was not funded by the county because of budget constraints.