##M:[more]##I am a parent on Dutch Neck No. 9, a bus that goes through our development, which is Princeton Ivy East. We have had numerous bus drivers this year. Consistently new bus drivers are not well prepared to follow the bus route, and often the first few days buses are late because they have gotten lost. We have had our concerns about putting our children, grades K-3, on the bus with some of the drivers, and in one instance, we complained loudly to the school and the district transportation office that the bus driver was yelling at the children, including telling them to shut up. We have been in communication throughout the entire school year with both the school and the district office.
Last week we had a seemingly seasoned driver who seemed confident and had no trouble with the route. On Friday she brought our new driver on the bus so he could get used to the route. Monday this driver got lost, including doing a U-turn at the Community Park (across 571 from our development), and delivered the children home more than 25 minutes after the normal time. In the meantime a 3rd grader got out of her seat and directed the driver to our neighborhood.
We sent another communication to Ed Treadaway, the director of Transportation, and he showed up at our bus stop this morning, asked the bus driver if everything was okay. Today, the same bus driver drove in circles through our development. He completely missed our bus stop (and our street), and dropped the kids at the stop before ours.
One child who was evidently tired of driving around the development, got off the bus two stops from his house and began to walk home. A neighbor recognized him and brought him home. The family of this child was frantic from the time we saw the rest of the children get off the bus and realized this child was missing, until the neighbor brought him home. No child should be let off the bus at any stop other than their designated bus stop. We are talking about children that are ages 5 to 8.
What will it take for us to get a reliable and safe bus driver?
What process are they using to hire bus drivers that they are giving us drivers who quit and are not well prepared to drive the route safely?
Sports coaches are required to go through background tests. Are bus drivers?
We have asked to know the hiring criteria and process to help us understand, but we have not received answers.
As parents we are so very careful about putting our children in cars with other adults, and we trust the district to make sure the bus drivers are reliable and safe. We do not think this is true in our case.
Risa Engel
