News
Along
for the ride
First-day school bus mix-ups
By
Elizabeth Prata
In Gray-New Gloucester five children had a much more
thrilling first day of school than they or their parents
bargained for. The normal first day mix-ups were compounded
by bus numbering inconsistencies, and other events
that rapidly resulted in frantic phone calls from
parents asking why their child didn't get off the
bus, and as the afternoon dragged on, demands to know
where they were, exactly.
"
Where's
my child?"
"We
got letters home saying your child is going on bus
number such and such," said parent David Spaulding.
"But when the bus came, it had a magnetic sign
on it and there were actually two numbers." Confusion
reigned. Above, file photo, buses at Dunn School
When their daughter Kaitlyn didn't get off the bus
with her siblings at 3:50, the Spauldings called Dunn
School to find out what was going on. "We were
told that the buses were running late and that the
kids would be home soon. But that wasn't the point.
Kaitlyn's siblings were home already but where was
Kaitlyn?" said Mr. Spaulding.
The unhappy parents called the bus garage, but only
got an answering machine. "We then called the
Superintendent's office, but were told the same thing,
the buses were running late." By now it was 4:15.
One of the compounding events triggered at this point-
the bus had a broken radio. And it was discovered
that in the vastness of the area that is Gray-New
Gloucester, other radios were out of range of the
bus garage, located on Libby Hill Road in center Gray.
The buses that travel to the nearby Pownal border
cannot communicate with the garage, so they transmit
to buses that are closer and that bus relays the transmission
to the garage. Answers come via a reversal of the
process.
 Left,
Kaitlyn Spaulding of Gray spent over 2 hours on
the wrong bus on the first day of school, while
her parents made numerous phone calls to the Dunn
School, the bus garage, the Superintendent's office
and finally, the State Police trying to locate
her. "What if this happens to another family
next year?" asked her father, David, noting
that the school should have a better plan in place
for the first day of school. The Spaulding family,
from left: David holding Sophie, Kaitlyn, mother
Christina holding Stephanie and Daniel. Stephanie
and Daniel made it home okay. According to the
Spauldings, 5 other children were on wrong busses.
Among their concerns: having to leave a message
at the bus garage that wasn't returned, confusing
numbering on the busses - there were two buses
marked "6", lack of response from state
police, discovering that school buses lose contact
with the bus garage at locales in Gray and New
Gloucester.
The Monument: Jeanne Adams photo
|
Frustrated at the lack of response, the Spauldings
called the State Police. "They told us that we
were not the only ones to call, and that a Trooper
would be out to our house soon." However, waiting
for the Trooper meant that they couldn't leave the
house, so they sent a friend up to Dunn School to
see what was going on. "Maybe the bus had returned
Kaitlyn to the school," said Mr. Spaulding.
Dunn
turns to command central
Since
Kaitlyn Spaulding wasn't the only child to go missing
from her route, Principal Bruce Beasley had quickly
set up a command center. By all accounts, his energy,
efficiency, and command of the situation on behalf
of frantic parents drew raves from the parents and
bystanders alike. "It looked like they had a
command center going on. Mr. Beasley was on the phone,
walking around, reassuring parents, doing everything
he could," said Mr. Spaulding. "He said
that there was one bus unaccounted for, and that was
likely the bus that Kaitlyn was on."
The bus drivers were concerned, too. Mr. Spaulding
said, "One driver said, 'I know that route,'
and she hopped in her bus and took off to catch up
with the missing bus." She found the five missing
kids and brought them back to Dunn. "Kaitlyn
was on the bus traveling Woodman Road in New Gloucester.
She lives on Shaker Road in Gray. She got back to
Dunn at 5:30 and home by 5:50.
Through it all, the Spauldings wanted answers to the
obvious questions. "We're not concerned about
the late pick-ups and drop offs, it was the first
day, after all. Kaitlyn was calm. "She thought
she was on the right bus. She just thought it was
taking a while," Mr. Spaulding said. But they
wanted to know about the missing children, and what
the District was doing to prevent this from happening
again. They asked,
--Why were the buses double numbered?
--What if there had been a medical emergency?
--Why weren't communications between the buses, the
garage, and the Administrators more accurate? "The
Superintendent told us Kaitlyn was on her way home
on the bus but we knew our friend was already bringing
her home in her car," Mr. Spaulding said.
--Did the Superintendent go home not knowing where
the missing kids were?
-Why did parents get an answering machine at the bus
garage?
--Was there a meeting to figure out what happened
and ways to fix the problems?
Answers,
but no excuses
Operations
Director Terry Towle said "We do not have excuses
for what happened, but we can give you some answers."
The morning of the first day of school the State Police
conducted an inspection of buses. "Two buses
were pulled from the road. One was quickly fixed and
put into service for that afternoon. The other was
off the road waiting for parts." Some re-shuffling
had to be done, but Mr. Towle explained that some
drivers wanted to drive their own bus. The District
has magnetic signs for cases like this, "But
the signs were supposed to be placed over every number
on the bus. They weren't in some cases." In one
case, the magnetic sign wasn't used at all.
Adding to the confusion was that the Middle School
buses were late. "They are supposed to be done
by 2:00 but they did not finish until 2:20. So the
elementary run kicked off late, as a result,"
Mr. Towle said.
District
buying more radios
The
radio outage in parts of the District is an ongoing
problem, one that Mr. Towle will see if a taller antennae
will fix. As to the broken radio, he said that was
inexcusable, and he has put in for replacement radios
for all buses. "That way, if one goes out we
have an immediate spare to give the driver."
Mrs. Burns said that cell phones may be looked at
as an additional method of communication, though Mr.
Towle said that he was not in favor of that. "Driving
with a cell phone is very different from driving with
a radio," he said.
Another problem, Mr. Towle said, was that the radio
etiquette needs to be improved. When the drivers call
in, sometimes another driver doesn't wait for the
first driver to finish the call before the other begins.
"The drivers are talking over each other, and
it gets worse when they are relaying calls from other
buses to the garage and back. It gets hectic."
All
lines are busy
Mrs.
Burns said that there are only two phone lines going
to the bus garage, and that when both are in use,
it kicks the caller into a voice mail box. "It
sounds like no one is there, and I know that parents'
frustrations increase because they want to hear a
human voice. But rest assured, we were all there."
Mrs. Burns said she did not leave the District until
about 7 p.m., after she was knew that every child
had made it home. "I would never leave until
then," she said.
The next morning Mr. Towle met with each driver and
reviewed their routes and listened to any concerns
they might have. "We made adjustments right then
and there so it wouldn't happen again," Mr. Towle
said. Principal Beasley also met with the Transportation
Director and reviewed each run his students are on
so he would personally know where each of his students
are at any given time.
Mr. Towle said he also began recording departure and
arrival times for each bus, and by Friday, he said,
most buses had delivered their last child by 4 p.m.
"We understand that the Transportation Director
is new, and that it was the first day of school with
new runs and drivers," said Mr. Spaulding. "We
can forgive that. But we got inaccurate information,
late call-backs or none at all. It was the not knowing
that got to us. We want to know if the District has
learned from this, so it doesn't happen again."
Three
day bus arrival times
SAD 15 Director of Finance and Operations Terry Towle
There are 16 elementary routes and 2 HS/MS routes
T.
Towle Notes: "On Day two, 11 of 16 buses dropped
off last student by 4:10 p.m. Latest was 4:25. We
will be adjusting this route to shorten the time and
distance."
*"Ask why so long today!"
