Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Editorial: Enough with the late buses
If you want children to learn, get them to school on time.
From the RoundTable blog
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Perhaps this week all Roanoke schoolchildren will be delivered to school before first bell and returned home at the expected hour. One can but hope.
It is tempting to finger Mountain Valley Transportation -- and the decision by the school board to turn to a private hauler -- as the culprit in such a colossal mess. But it wouldn't be fair.
Roanoke retained the right to devise the bus routes, and therein lies the problem. Even without the private company, students would still be stranded because of two unusual changes.
First, the district underwent a major redrawing of attendance zones, including the closing of some schools, that affected every elementary and middle school in the system. The task of designing new bus routes to reflect these changes would be challenging in itself.
But then the second glitch appeared. Just before school began, the state finally released the list of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress. Some 400 students opted to transfer, as is their right. In a typical year, Roanoke accommodates about 60 to 70 transfers.
This meant 400 individual changes deviating from planned routes occurred at the last minute.
No wonder there was disarray. After that first horrendous week, routes were redesigned and buses added. By now, a routine should have settled in, with skipped stops and late students an aberration, not the norm.
Yet, problems remain. Mountain Valley, though it has taken the most public heat, isn't the lone villain. In failing to respond better, the school administration is also to blame.
Left unnoted in this drama is the significant role played by the state in tardiness to report AYP results. Roanoke has pleaded for earlier information to better prepare transfers for opening day. The state hasn't complied.
There's a way around this problem: successful schools. If students achieve, there won't be cause for mass transfers. But they can't learn if they're still waiting on the bus.
