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Board weighs adding a bus route after safety concerns on Stuart's Run Road
Summary
Board members and staff mapped long walks, narrow shoulders and timing conflicts on Stuart's Run Road, considered routing students to Milan Park, adding a separate run or hiring a substitute/retiree driver, and directed transportation staff to explore options and report back.
Concerns about student safety at bus stops on Stuart's Run Road dominated a lengthy portion of the Monongalia County Board of Education meeting on Nov. 12.
Teacher Christine (Speaker 4) told the board she drove the route to assess walking conditions, mapped distances from homes to the Moose Lodge bus stop and described narrow shoulders, brush close to the road and an intersection she called "very scary" to turn onto from Little Indian Creek Road. She said students living there face walks ranging from roughly 31 to 46 minutes to reach the Moose Lodge stop and that some students who previously rode elementary routes now face much longer walks as they moved to middle school.
Board members and Superintendent (Speaker 3) reviewed bus timing and route constraints. They cited bus 359, which reportedly arrives for morning pickups earlier than scheduled and drops off at Westwood around 7:00 a.m., and which in the afternoon departs Westwood at about 2:30 p.m., then reaches the Moose Lodge around 2:57 p.m. Staff said GPS data showed a bus arriving at Skyview nearly 20 minutes after that school's 3:45 p.m. dismissal on one measured day, creating a scheduling tightness in the afternoon.
Possible solutions discussed included sending the children to Milan Park to wait under supervised coverage (with a potential 20–30 minute wait between dismissals), creating a separate afternoon run for the three affected middle/high school students, hiring a long‑term substitute or retired driver to fill a new run, or exploring a shuttle or smaller‑vehicle option. Board members pressed whether adding a single run now would disrupt other routes and whether drivers were available; staff said adding a separate run would be possible if a driver could be assigned but would likely shift timing by 15–20 minutes on the affected legs.
No formal vote was taken. Superintendent (Speaker 3) said staff and transportation will further investigate available options and return to the board; several members urged quicker action so students would not be expected to walk the route in inclement weather.
What happens next: Transportation staff will evaluate driver availability, sub/retiree options and shuttle feasibility and present options to the board for potential action.
