Pinellas school bus stops need professional attention

Re: Arterial school bus stops

School bus stops need professional attention

Let me start off by saying that I initially was very much in favor of arterial school bus stops. This comes after seeing two bus stops for my teen's school within three-tenths of a mile of each other, but for two different bus routes. That never made sense to me. And if that didn't make sense to me, I often wondered how it could to any of the transportation "professionals" — people who do that for a living.

But now after this year's debacle centering on these arterial stops, I can't help but wonder if anyone who works in school transportation really is a professional.

Let me tell you about my experience. Because I was very concerned about these arterial stops being on busy corners, I kept checking back on the Pinellas County schools' Web site all summer, only to find that there was never any additional information posted as to where on these corners the students should stand, since a bus could come from any of four directions.

This worried me. I pictured kids — mine included — running across these intersections in the dark, trying to figure out which bus was theirs. And after seeing that 12 buses were scheduled to stop at our corner, I concluded we could be talking about a lot of kids.

So a month before school commenced, I starting making phone calls. And do you know what I was initially told by the customer service reps in the transportation department? They had no information as to what corners matched what bus route for any of the arterial stops, and they had no intention of researching this and communicating the information.

This concerned and infuriated me. I started making more phone calls, basically using up an entire lunch hour being transferred around different departments within the school district until I finally reached someone who was able to look up my daughter's route and give me a best guess as to which direction her bus would be coming from. When I asked why this was a guess, I was told that it was up to the bus drivers to decide their routes. Up to the bus drivers? Where was management?

So if it wasn't for me being a pain in the neck and taking the time to call around, we would have been like many of the other parents and students, risking their safety in not knowing where to stand at these congested corners.

I should not have had to go through all the trouble I did to get that piece of information out of our school representatives. Which leads to this question: Why, after we saw two deaths of students at bus stops the last few years, has the transportation department not embraced open communication with those they serve: the parents and students?

It is unfortunate that this lesson has been lost on these supposed professionals. Our elected School Board representatives must open an inquiry into this matter and change must be implemented, before tragedy strikes again. Nanette Angelone, Clearwater