Busing triggers problems

Lack of communication and poor organization are the two major complaints made by parents about transportation in the Lawrence School District during the first several days of the new school year.

Parents said they had made many calls to the office concerning their bus routes, but got no response until days later. “We need more organization of the transportation office,” said Cedarhurst resident Emily Oami, who works full-time and has two boys in Yeshiva of South Shore, in Woodmere, and two girls in Shulamith School for Girls, in Cedarhurst. “I had to physically come into the office,” she added. “It is not user-friendly.” Oami’s issue — a change of bus stop location — was eventually resolved.

Rachel Guetta said she left 20 messages over a week’s time about getting her two daughters a bus to the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway. Guetta, who also works, said she registered the change on Aug. 28, and was told by transportation office staffers that it would take a week. When the bus didn’t show up when school began at HAFTR the following Thursday, Guetta began making calls.

“There’s a bus stop right across the street from my house in North Woodmere,” she said. “Right now I’m just asking and inconveniencing friends [to get my kids]. They’re rearranging their schedules to help me.”

Jeremy Feder, the district’s transportation supervisor, who oversees a complex system (see chart), said that late registrants need to understand that it takes time to add their children to the system. “It’s a process, and a majority of the problems are being worked on,” Feder said, adding that the Guettas have been added to the system and should have a bus this week. “I’m asking parents, if they cannot reach someone in the transportation office, they should call the school their children attend as those administrators will call my office.” A new phone answering service that will operate after office hours and at times during the day was expected to be installed this week, he said.

“Our office cannot handle all the calls we get,” said Feder, who added that 80 phone calls represent 1 percent of the number of students for whom the district provides transportation. “We are looking to change stops where we can and keep it safe for everyone.”

Woodmere resident Melanie Weg said it is troubling that her son is on a large bus in the afternoon, after a minibus takes him and about 17 other 4-year-olds to Lev Chana in Hewlett in the morning. “They can’t see over the seats and they can’t buckle themselves in,” said Weg, who added that she called and left messages at Independent Coach, the Inwood-based company that provides the Lawrence district with buses.

Brian Probst, Independent’s safety supervisor, said he didn’t have information about this specific case, but he insisted that the company doesn’t take safety lightly, and explained that three bus drills are conducted throughout the school year to familiarize students with safety procedures. Parents also have an opportunity to take part, he said.

“Buckling is required,” Probst said. “We tell the children to buckle, but are not allowed [by law] to touch the children. Nothing is always perfect. Every call we get is documented and investigated. We want it to run right.”

Private-school administrators said the problems they have encountered were small, and were resolved quickly. “Everybody is doing all they can,” said Rivka Bohan, the transportation supervisor for Yeshiva Darchei Torah, in Far Rockaway. Some stops were skipped, she said, but that problem was worked out. Feder visited on Sept. 10 to check on how the buses were running, she said.

“I am very careful to explain to my parent body that the beginning of school is generally hectic, and you have to give [the bus drivers] a chance to get used to their routes and calm down,” said Naomi N. Herzberg, director of operations for Shulamith. “This is what normal human relations is all about. New drivers and new families, [the] changing of schools and [people] moving in, [and students] added to the routes last-minute.”

Lawrence School District transportation system 2014-15
Total students bused              7,750
Private-school students          5,000
Public-school students            2,500
Special education students     250
Number of schools                 200
Miles per day                        6,000
Runs per day                        575

Source: Lawrence School District