Recently released data by the Providence school department has showed how many busses were late last month -- and at what schools.
Data recently released by the Providence School Department showed that for the month of October, over a dozen city school buses were late, either on the morning or afternoon run, over 50% of the time.
In total, 21 first-tier buses were recorded as late at least 6% of the time during October, with one bus reporting being late 35% of the time. 47 second-tier buses, which follow after the first-tier runs, were reported as late ranging from 6% of the time -- to one being late 94% of the time.
"I pushed to get this detailed data from the district, although it took me weeks to retrieve," said Providence parent Kira Weidner-Greene. "I knew it would reveal that the bussing issue could be identified in concentrated bus runs, mostly 2nd tier routes, busses that must wait for the bus to deliver earlier start time students. Busses are now merged into 1st, 2nd tier routes as a direct result of the Mayor's budget cut to public school transportation."
School bussing issues have persisted since the beginning of the year, and first came to a head when parents, outraged over an incident where a bus got lost and let kids off, banded together to voice their concerns to the City and School Board.
A Facebook group was formed, "Providence Parents Concerned about School Bus and Public School Issues" by Providence parent Michele Meek, who this week sent an e-newsletter out on the statistics, which were requested by parents and recently provided by the Providence Public School Department.
"Per our requests, we received the statistics on Providence school busses for October 2013. Overall, there were 9 percent of busses late in October 2013, which is small improvement over the 11 percent statistic we were given by PPSD in September," Meek wrote in the newsletter. "As you will see, some busses were quite consistently late -- with the worst being Bus 101 to Carl Lauro which was late 82% of mornings. Schools with the excessively late busses included Carl Lauro, Vartan-Gregorian, Spaziano, Broad, Webster, Kennedy, West, Fogarty, Reservoir, Kirzirian, Carnevale and Martin Luther King."
Meek ended the message expressing interest that the school department would continue to work to rectify the bus issues. "So if they actually do perform an efficient, intelligent re-routing mid-year, perhaps more children can get to school on time. We will follow up with PPSD on statistics monthly so that we can see if there are improvements."
Keith Oliveira, President of the Providence Public School Board, said that according to the corrective action plan that Superintendent Susan Lusi reported to the School Board, "at least two buses (more if necessary) will be added to the fleet on the road. The additional buses began running this week."
"A major overhaul is currently underway," said Oliveira. "The bus routes are being re-engineered to provide more time between the drop-offs of middle school students and pick-up of the elementary school students. The re-engineering of bus routes will respond to the recommendations of the transportation consultants review."
Oliveira was optimistic that the outstanding issues with the late school buses could be addressed -- and rectified.
"I expect that these corrective actions will reduce the number and percentage of busses that have been late since the beginning of the school year. At our last school board meeting, we directed the administration to report back at the next school board meeting the impact of these actions."
Concerns Persist
Providence parents have weighed in on their issues at both public forums and online, including Vartan Gregorian parent Susan Teeden-Cielo.
"My daughter is in an integrated Pre-K class at [Vartan Gregorian]," said Teeden-Cielo. "She was also in the same class and on the same bus last year. I remember there only being one or two instances last year with the bus being late."
"This year, the bus was late by one hour beginning on the first day of school," continued Teeden-Cielo. "We have had four different drivers since the start of the school year," and noted that the bus times have continued to be "inconsistent" since the beginning of the year. "I truly believe this is a city-wide issue, an issue with lack of communication between (bus company) First Student and PPSD, and an issue with increased pickups and decreased drivers, monitors, and the removal of teachers assistants on the buses."
Teeden-Cielo mentioned bus driver Tanya Dejesus, who attended a public forum , and spoke out about bussing issues at the first meetings that took place.
"She stated that the routes (drivers) were given were all over the city," said Teeden-Cielo. "Especially our bus, 35w, the wheelchair/special needs bus. It''s the only bus for VG and picks up children from all over the city. "
Vartan Gregorian was one of the schools where busses were consistently late last month.
Weidner-Greene questioned the impact of school -- and bus route -- consolidation on families in Providence.
"This transportation issue begs the question, at what cost did the Mayor balance the ship? And I am sure many could give different answers, but my answer is, on the backs of city youth being delivered late to school every day. What is even more concerning at this point, now that we are in mid-November, we have been told little on what the district is doing about it besides adding a couple of busses here or there, which clearly will not fix the entirety of this issue.
Weidner-Greene continued, "The city and the school district needs to solve the underlying problem, as stated in the consultants report, which is the haphazard way in which students are assigned to schools all over the city, a problem which they clearly have chosen to ignore for years. The consultant, hired by the city, referred to this issue as having a "domino effect" on families all over the city."
Colleen Jermain with the PPSD, who issued the bus report, did not respond to request for comment.
Related Slideshow: 10 Questions Taveras Has to Answer When Running for Gov of RI
Can Taveras Keep Up with the Big Boys and Girls in Fundraising?
In America today, one issue that is a factor in nearly every election is fundraising. To date, Taveras has yet to demonstrate any consistent ability to keep up with the leading fundraisers in RI.
Taveras will have to compete with General Treasuer Gina Raimondo, who has $2 plus million on hand and a likely run from Clay Pell (grandson of US Senator Claiborne Pell and whose wife is Olympic skater Michelle Kwan).
Raimondo is on pace to raise $5m and Taveras presently has just $692,000 on hand and would be on pace to raise less than $2 mliion.
Pell's family has access to nearly limitless dollars - back in the 1990's Pell's grandfather was ranked as one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
For more than 60 years, no Providence Mayor has been successful running for Governor of Rhode Island. You have to go back to the 1950 election when Dennis Roberts was elected Governor.
Since Roberts, a number of Providence Mayors have taken their shot at running for Governor and each has failed mightily.
Most notably, Buddy Cianci's run against J. Joseph Garrahy - Cianci got less than 30% of the statewide vote.
Joe Paolino was expected to win the Democratic primary in 1990, but was beaten badly by Bruce Sundlun and then Warwick Mayor Frank Flaherty.
Sundlun went on to win the general election and Flaherty was later named to the state Supreme Court.
Can Teachers Trust Taveras - and Will Voters Trust His Relationship with the Teachers Unions?
In the midst of the city's political meltdown, Taveras just into his first few months in office fired all the teachers in Providence.
Taveras received strong public support, but within months he capitulated to pressure from the teachers' unions.
Three years later, he is emerging as the candidate of the teachers' union leadership. Will teachers trust him in a statewide race and will voters trust him if he is perceived as too close to union bosses?
Will Hispanics Vote as a Block in the Primary for Taveras? Are They Influential Enough in the General?
Conventional wisdom is that Angel Taveras will get a big boost from the Hispanic voting block in the primary, but more recently Council members Luis Aponte, Danian Sanchez and Sabina Matos have all openly battled with the mayor on his tax increases and efforts to close pools in low income wards around the city.
While Taveras can rebound and the impact may be large in the primary, the percentage of voters who are Hispanic in the general election is just 7% according to Pew Research:
Rhode Island’s population is 12% Hispanic, the 13th largest Hispanic population share nationally.
There are 54,000 Hispanic eligible voters in Rhode Island—which ranks 35th in Hispanic eligible voter population nationally. California ranks first with 5.9 million.
Some 7% of Rhode Island eligible voters are Hispanic, the 13th largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 39%.
Can Taveras Handle the Campaign Pressure and the Office Pressure of Governor?
Taveras had no experience as a chief executive in business or government before taking office in 2011 in Providence. He has increasingly gotten into some very non-productive scrapes.
In 2012, his law office delivered a document to GoLocalProv as part of a FOIA request and those documents included the social security number of every retiree of the City. Instead of taking responsibility he sent his lawyers to court to try to block GoLocal from writing about the mishandling of social security numbers. The judge ruled against Taveras.
In 2013, Taveras has tried to demolish a commuity swimming pool in South Providence because, according to Councilman Danian Sanchez, Sanchez would not vote for Taveras' tax increase.
Will Taveras be able to prove to voters he has the right stuff?
Can Angel Taveras Build a Political Base Outside of Providence?
While Taveras has a strong political base in Providence, it is unclear if he can build a strong political network in critical Democratic strongholds like Woonsocket, Pawtucket, East Providence, Johnston and North Providence.
It is well known that both Democratic Mayors in North Providence and Johnston have had a strained relationship with Taveras.
This strain has played out over critical matters like mutual emergency aid and in 2012, North Providence, Johnston and East Providence all cancelled emergency aid compacts with Providence.
When Taveras ran for Mayor he won the critical block of East Side Democratic women. Part of his success with this critical block of voters was the support he enjoyed from Democratic power Myrth York.
The two-time Democratic nominee for Governor went all in for Taveras in 2010, but she no longer is active in the inner circle and reportedly would have supported Governor Lincoln Chafee in the primary.
Taveras will need to compete with Raimondo who has already signed former EMILY's list bigwig Kate Coyne-McCoy.
In 2010, Taveras ran under the motto of "from Head Start to Harvard." His claim on the American dream proved a successful juxtaposition to two Democrats who had the same political base - Federal Hill (Steven Costantino and John Lombardi).
Now, Taveras may face the fresh-faced Clay Pell. His bio exceeds Taveras as he can claim the legacy of his grandfather's work and hit the circuit with his superstar wife, Olympian Michelle Kwan.
Can Angel Taveras Articulate a Vision for Rhode Island?
Taveras earned good scores for managing the City of Providence's financial crises, but never seemed to develop major policies for economic development, schools, parking, crime, reducing the cost of government or improving the efficiency.
The Superman building's closure happened on his watch, technology company Dassault Systèmes is moving out of Providence, and no major employers were recruited into the city other than the scrap yard on Allens Avenue.
Taveras will need to define a forward looking vision for Rhode Island.
Can Taveras Explain His Record on Crime and Education?
The biggest problem for Taveras is his record in Providence.
Most people care about the basics - their jobs, education for their children, how safe their neighborhood is. These vary questions could be Taveras' Achilles' heel.
The condition of Providence's schools may be worse. Of the 24 schools ranked as poor (de facto failing) in Rhode Island by the Department of Education, 6 of them were Providence Schools and in the rankings of the best high schools in the state, most of Providence's schools consistently litter the bottom of the rankings.
Taveras lead the city to win the $5 million Bloomberg award. But in a Governor's race one of Taveras' opponents is sure to ask, "Mr. Mayor, are you going to bring the same policies you used on crime and education in Providence to the rest of the state?"
