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Activity buses hit brakes and parents hit ceiling
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- The school district decided there were too many school buses running for too many afterschool activities. A task force looked for places to cut. School started, and students at Lakewood and Gibbs high schools suddenly had no activity buses. Oops, an oversight, a task force member admitted. A big problem, parents said. Parents of students in the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs were alarmed to learn that the buses that took their children home from mandatory afterschool activities were being discontinued. It was the same at Lakewood High School, where students travel from the far reaches of northern Pinellas County to attend the Center for Advanced Technologies. While the majority of their afterschool activities are voluntary, transportation is needed to encourage participation in programs from clubs to athletics. Parents were incensed. "We found out the hard way," said Wes Calhoun, a Gibbs parent and president of the PCCA fan club. "The kids had rehearsal after school, and the bus didn't show up, so they started asking questions, and the office found out that there were no buses scheduled. Everyone was up in arms, because the activity buses are the lifeblood of a program like PCCA. We were all fearful that there would be children dropping out," he said. The Gibbs parents planned to protest the bus cancellation at last Tuesday's School Board meeting, but called it off after they learned that funding had been found for the afterschool transportation. Both Lakewood and Gibbs will have to dig into contingency funds to restore the bus service. The schools plan to use commissions from soft drink sales. At Lakewood, it will be Pepsi money. Calhoun said he has learned that the entire cost of the activity bus program at Gibbs will be paid for with Coke funds. "To me it is an uncertain source of funding," said Calhoun, the Gibbs parent. Neither Gibbs principal Barbara Shorter nor school district transportation staff could be reached for comment. A school district official said the decision to pull the Gibbs and Lakewood activity bus service had been "an oversight" by a task force made up of principals, transportation and other staff that was established to rein in spending for afterschool transportation. What does this portend for school transportation as the district prepares to make the transition to "controlled choice," a program that will allow parents to select schools for their children? This fall, parents will make their choices for the program that will begin next fall. This means, district officials say, that they have yet to make such crucial decisions about where bus stops will be or even where buses will run. As for the cost of the new transportation program, there are no concrete figures. Only after students choose their schools will the district know which buses have to take which students to which schools. One thing is certain: The new system will cost a lot more money. Officials estimate that annual operating costs could rise $7.5-million. The Lakewood and Gibbs mixup occurs just as the district is getting organized for the momentous transportation changes ahead. Money is a major issue and was the impetus for establishing the task force that studied the activity bus service. "It had been discovered that there had been a lot of overspending in transportation, especially in the area of athletics and activity buses," said Bob Hosack, director of extracurricular student activities. Hosack said the activity bus program was being abused. Many times, he said, buses were being ordered and not used. "What we had found was that the original intent of the activity bus program was to supply activity buses to certain satellite schools and what had evolved was that more and more schools were requesting transportation from the transportation department and they were not part of the original program, and their requests were being honored without actual money being available for these requests," Hosack said. "The task force looked at this and determined to get the situation under control and that those schools originally intended for activity buses would be the ones that would get activity bus money." In making their decision, the group struck Lakewood and Gibbs off the list. Ralph M. Nurmela, administrator for PCCA, wrote to area superintendent Cathy Athanson asking for help. "Rehearsals for our many productions are held after the school day -- from 3 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.," he said. "Attendance to rehearsals, recitals and gallery openings are considered mandatory. We are dependent on an activity bus to support the transportation of our students at the end of each of these activities, as many high school students do not have any other means of transportation during the work day." Gibbs parent Eula Vandergriff understands. Her son, Donovan, 16, a clarinet player, at times uses the activity bus to get home after football practice and afterschool rehearsals and programs. "I was just a bit puzzled," Ms. Vandergriff said of the cancellation of the bus service. "How was it we had an activity bus since 1988 and it was decided we were not eligible" for continuing the service, she asked. At Lakewood, principal Fred Ulrich and CAT program coordinator and assistant principal Martin Shapiro swung into action. They decided to conduct a survey to determine just how many students needed the bus service and when. "Our students are integrated into the fabric of Lakewood High School and they need to participate in afterschool activities, all the sports, the service clubs, National Honor Society, the Technology Honor Society, Academic Team, Mu Alpha Theta -- a mathematics club -- Interact, drama and stuff like that, as well as just staying for tutoring, detention and then all the sports," Shapiro said. He said the school, where about a third of the 1,653 students are in the CAT program, is arranging for at least two activity buses to start running on Sept. 3. One bus will leave the school around 5:15 p.m. and travel the county's eastside corridor to Countryside Mall. The other will travel on the west side, to Largo Mall or Largo High School. Shapiro said the school will use contingency funds for costs not covered by the school district. "This is something we had promised the children and parents, and we are going to make it happen," he said. Hosack said the six high schools that qualify for funding in the activity bus program are Lakewood, Northeast, St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Dixie Hollins and Osceola. Though Gibbs does not qualify for the program, it will be part of the program, he said. The middle schools are Azalea, Bay Point, Morgan Fitzgerald, Madeira Beach, Meadowlawn, Osceola, Pinellas Park, John Hopkins and Tyrone. Ms. Vandergriff believes the action of parents helped to get the bus service reinstated at Gibbs. "It's the squeaky wheel," she said. "I got a notice that was sent home by the school and it essentially said that funding had been found for an activity bus and that activity buses would be resumed on Aug. 26. Of course, I was very gratified and relieved." -- Times staff writer Kelly Ryan Gilmer contributed to this report.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
