6:20 A.M. School Bus Pick Up Time Blasted by Providence Parent
Friday, September 04, 2015
A Providence public school parent has spoken out against her seven year old daughter's 6:22 a.m. school bus pick up time, for an 8 a.m. school start at The Hope Academy, a public "Mayoral Academy" charter school.
Parent Susan Teeden Cielo reported on Wednesday she learned that the morning pick-up time was suddenly pushed back nearly an hour from its originally scheduled time of 7:09 a.m.
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GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"My daughter goes to The Hope Academy Charter School and shares a bus with other Providence Schools," said Cielo on Wednesday. "Today after school, the driver apparently forgot a child at school and had to go back and pick that child up. The bus dropped her off at 4:20."
"Drop off is 3:22 p.m., morning pick up [was] 7:09 a.m. The bus got home with a different driver/monitor than this morning who then informed us that pick up will now be at 6:22 a.m," continued Cielo. "Really? School starts at 8. These are 5, 6, and 7 year olds. An a.m pick up of 6:22 is absurd. She's sleeping at 6:15 [a.m.]"
Back in 2013, Providence Public school bus problems prompted parents to start a Facebook group, "Providence Parents Concerned about School Bus and Public School Issues." So far this year, several parents have weighed in on problems ranging from bus monitor behavior to bus stop location, as well as several other issues.
Bus Issues
Last year, GoLocal reported that a 4 year old special needs student had a scheduled pick up time of 6:44 AM putting him on a bus two and half hours a day; Cielo pointed out that the new altered bus schedule would have had her daughter on even longer -- but she pulled her from taking the bus now.
"So now I'm driving her, my other two children, and her friend who was actually first on the pick up route before her," said Cielo, who said she leaves an hour later than the scheduled bus pick up time. "I can do this now, but who knows in the future."
Cielo said she believed more people are similarly impacted -- but with less options.
"It is inconveniencing parents who rely on this bus transportation to get their children to school because they have no other means of transportation," Cielo. "Are they just supposed to suck it up and put their kids on the bus at 6:20 in the morning?"
"Hope has just two busses. When I called City Hall, they acknowledged if we had more busses and crammed fewer kids on, they wouldn't be sitting on a bus for 90 minutes," continued Cielo. "I feel that because it's a charter -- I don't know if other schools are having problems, I don't know what RISE's situation with their news school is. It just feels like [charters] are an afterthought."
Raphael Diaz, the head of Hope, did not respond to request for comment on the bus situation on Thursday.
Cielo noted that in her estimation, The Hope Academy was the only option for her daughter with learning needs.
"I don't have any other options for my daughter because of her needs," said Cielo. "So it's the low student to teacher ratio...if she were in a typical class, it would be 36 kids, she's in a class of 18, getting the maximum amount of services available. If this doesn't work I don't have any others options."
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island School Superintendent Salaries
Below are the salaries of school superintendents in Rhode Island, starting with the lowest paid. Data is for 2013 and was provided by the state Division of Municipal Finance. Where relevant, longevity pay is also listed. All school superintendents are listed except those in the independent school districts in Foster and Glocester. The combined Foster-Glocester district is included. In order to provide a more informed basis for comparing superintendents from one community to another, the annual student enrollment and total expenditures are also listed. (The data is for fiscal year 2012, the latest available from the state Department of Education.)
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