Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent tells Ithaca school board bus delays left families without timely notices; board and superintendent pledge follow-up
Summary
A parent told the Ithaca City School District board that repeated failures to notify families after bus breakdowns and staff shortages have left caregivers without information; the board and Superintendent Brown said they will investigate and reminded residents of the district's communication protocol.
A parent told the Ithaca City School District Board of Education on Monday that repeated failures in transportation communication left caregivers unsure where children were after bus breakdowns.
The parent, Scott Janke, said his daughter's bus broke down at school and families waited 30 minutes with no updates. He said earlier in the school year another delay lasted more than 45 minutes and that a prior promise from the transportation department to give timely updates had not been kept. He also said a transportation request submitted at the start of the year did not resolve until he escalated it and that the district had not responded to his Jan. 31 email about bus delays and access to an on-bus GPS system.
The parent described a pattern of “poor communication and lack of accountabilities” that, he said, left families “in the dark.” He urged the district to provide transparency and timely responses when safety or student whereabouts are at issue.
Superintendent Dr. Brown acknowledged the concern and described the scale and operational constraints of the transportation department. Brown said the district’s transportation staff manage 64 routes with about 85 employees and that when a mechanical issue occurs drivers must first assure student safety, assess the problem and then notify the office — steps that can take roughly 30 minutes before a system-wide notification could be sent. Brown said administrators such as principals provide direct phone contacts parents can use when they need immediate answers.
A board member offered to ask Van Curren to investigate and provide additional information at the next board meeting. Board members also encouraged parents to consult the district’s published communication protocol and to escalate to the superintendent or the board if they do not receive responses through the standard channels.
Board and district officials said they were dismayed to hear of the specific failures described and apologized to the parent. They said they would request details from the transportation office and report back at the board’s next meeting.
The board did not take formal action at the meeting but directed staff to investigate and provide information at a future meeting.
The complaint came during the receiving-and-hearing-of-delegates portion of the agenda, and board members and the superintendent responded in the meeting’s public session.
