Families To Grade Bus Changes

By Laura Frazier, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Aug. 1–VALRICO — Families with students at Bloomingdale High School and its feeder schools will have an opportunity Thursday to review the first wave of sweeping bus route changes set to roll out when school opens Aug. 20.

School transportation staff will hold a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. at Bloomingdale High to discuss bus route changes for that school, Alafia, Cimino, Brooker, Clair-Mel, Kingswood and Buckhorn elementary schools and Burns, Rodgers and Dowdell middle schools.

Bus routes eventually will be reworked countywide to make student transportation more efficient and timely, said John Franklin, the district’s new general manager of transportation. He said he and his staff are eager to introduce their plan and address parents’ questions and concerns.

“In some cases, bus stops have been eliminated. In other cases, entire runs may be eliminated in favor of a newly retooled and efficient route,” Franklin said.

Plans call for fewer bus stops; a minimum of 500 feet between stops instead of the 250 feet now permitted; more stops at intersections and fewer in the middle of blocks; no fewer than two or more than 20 students assigned to each stop; and no bus runs down narrow, dead-end or one-way streets.

“Under the new plan, the maximum distance students are allowed to walk to bus stops is one and a half miles, but very few students will have that walk,” Franklin said. “There are probably some situations where some will have a bit of a walk heading out to the front of their subdivisions. Making kids walk on highways is something we’re not going to do.”

The Hillsborough County school district unveiled plans this year to revamp school busing, in part, because the county has too few drivers. Officials also wanted to make routes more efficient.

Wimauma Parents Get Concessions

Some parents already are up in arms.

Tuesday, an estimated crowd of 250 parents attended a meeting at the Good Samaritan Mission in Balm to hear school district officials address their concerns about suspending bus service for children living within two miles of Wimauma Elementary School.

The Rev. Julian Graham called the meeting a victory, citing a number of what he described as concessions by the school district.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia said she thinks the district had drafted a viable plan to address “first and foremost, the safety of the students” and the concerns parents voiced about a route change that would have forced children to cross State Road 674.

The transportation plan initially eliminated 17 bus stops, but two on the north side of the busy highway will be reinstated so students don’t have to cross. Elia also said buses will continue transporting students from Wimauma Elementary to afternoon programs at Bethune Park and the Redlands Christian Migrant Association.

“I feel the community understands our overall goal, and we have responded to its needs, while still becoming more efficient,” Elia said.

Debby Dowdy, assistant principal of Cimino Elementary School in Valrico, said Cimino administrators will attend Thursday’s meeting, but route changes are not likely to become a hot topic in the Bloomingdale area.

“The two-mile [maximum walking distance to school] issue has already been enforced for Cimino and for Alafia Elementary,” Dowdy said.

“Cimino is a big walk-in school. Out of 1,000 students, we only have five buses,” she said.

“We haven’t heard from any concerned parents, so it shouldn’t be as big an issue here as it may be in other areas.”

A Stop-By-Stop Change

To help determine the new routes, transportation senior staffers met with route coordinators and bus drivers to do a stop-by-stop analysis, Franklin said.

“It’s been a very time-intensive endeavor, bringing people in and evaluating corner by corner where we’re going to put stops. We brought in a lot of [experienced] bus drivers to make sure we’re not putting anyone into a dangerous situation.”

Some buses stop every 20 feet along current routes, Franklin said. Many of those stops will be eliminated.

“But all students’ stops are placed at a safe corner and are within a legitimate walking distance,” Franklin said. “That’s going to lead ultimately to timely bus service. You can’t have timely service when the bus stops every few feet.”

The district intends to sign off on changes for all Area 5 schools before school starts Aug. 20. That includes Bloomingdale High and its feeder schools, as well as East Bay, Riverview, Lennard and Spoto high schools and their feeder schools.

In addition to holding more public meetings in early August, the district will mail new route schedules to all affected students no later than a week before school starts.

If all goes well, the district intends to institute the changes throughout the county by the start of the 2008-2009 school year, Franklin said.

For information, call the school district at (813) 272-4000 or go to Hillsborough County’s Transportation Improvement Plan Web site at tip.mysdhc.org.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Public meeting to discuss Bloomingdale area bus route changes

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Bloomingdale High School auditorium, 1700 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico

INFORMATION: (813) 272-4000

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Hillsborough County has scheduled additional Transportation Improvement Plan meetings in Area 5 at 5:30 p.m. on the following days:

–Aug. 8, East Bay High School, 7710 Big Bend Road, Gibsonton

–Aug. 9, Riverview High School, 11311 Boyette Road, Riverview

–Aug. 10, Lennard High School, 2002 Shell Point Road, Ruskin

–Aug. 13, Spoto High School, 8538 Eagle Palm Drive, Riverview

Elementary and middle school parents whose children will attend those high schools in the future are invited to attend. Parents can get bus route and stop information based on the school their child attends.

Reporter Lois Kindle contributed to this report. Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@ tampatrib.com.

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