ThisWeek CW 09/18/2104
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/09/15/groveport-madison-schools-on-attorneys-advice-busing-cut-for-daycare-centers.html
Groveport Madison School District busing is back up and running, but not for some daycare students.
Thanks to approval of a 6.18-mill operating levy and 2.74-mill bond issue in May, the district was able — among other things — to reinstate extracurricular activities and bus service that had been halted in 2013 because of budget cuts. Those cuts also resulted in changes to some bus routes as officials sought to economize.
Superintendent Bruce Hoover said last week the district has historically provided transportation for students to and from private daycare centers. However, that service was not resumed when classes started this year, on the advice of the district’s attorneys.
Hoover said in response to the busing cuts last school year, students were “redistricted” to realign them with the nearest neighborhood schools. During that process, the district’s attorneys, Bricker and Eckler, reviewed the daycare transportation plan and said continuing it, as is, would be against the law.
“The reason is that we offer our own latchkey program, the extended-day program, and we offer transportation for that, so it is then illegal to use public dollars to support those private businesses in competition with our program,” Hoover said.
Treasurer Anthony Swartz added no other school districts in the area, including Canal Winchester, have ever offered this transportation service.
“The daycare centers already have their own vans that they use to transport to other area schools,” Swartz said.
Bricker and Eckler attorneys also advised school officials the district could only continue to provide transportation to and from the private daycare centers if the district’s own latchkey program were eliminated — something Hoover said would be unacceptable.
Aside from transportation for the daycare centers, there have been some other issues with the reinstatement of busing.
PTO member Maria McGraw said the buses have not been following a regular, established route, which has resulted in students — including her own son — to have not been picked up or to have been put on the wrong buses.
McGraw said at the Sept. 10 school board meeting she has had parents call her daily since the beginning of the school year, complaining about problems with district transportation.
“I had someone knock on my door saying that they were told their child was a walker, even though in the levy (campaign), we promised that that kid would be a bus rider,” McGraw said.
“I’ve had parents every day contact me about this problem. I’ve gotten various answers from the bus garage and so have the other parents. My own son has ended up on the wrong bus.”
She asked officials communicate directly with parents as to which bus their child should be on, and where the bus stop is because communication with the bus garage has only resulted in more confusion.
Hoover said he would follow up on McGraw’s concerns with the district bus garage.