Parent tells Kutztown school board bus-route changes are putting children at risk; district adds route and emails families

At the Sept. 8 meeting of the Kutztown Area School District Board of School Directors, parent and district employee Jennifer Zayas urged the board to address recent bus-route changes she said have created unsafe walking and waiting conditions for students.

"What is truly at stake is that we are concerned about the safety of our children," Zayas said, describing longer walks to stops, waits in exposed locations and near misses in traffic after the district changed transportation providers and consolidated routes. She said some families have had to change addresses or rely on relatives to ensure a child’s safety.

The superintendent responded to Zayas’s public comment with an operational update. He said the district implemented route adjustments beginning the next day that include adding an additional run to improve consistency and, in some cases, slightly earlier pickups. "We're going to see those changes implemented tomorrow," he said, and added that about 50 students experienced an actual change of bus while others had only minor stop-time adjustments.

The superintendent said families impacted by the changes received email notifications with their updated bus number, stop and time, for those with up‑to‑date contact information on file. He urged parents to report specific safety concerns to the transportation department or to him directly, and said the district will evaluate routes both by personal vehicle and on buses to identify necessary safety fixes.

Why it matters: Transportation decisions affect students’ safety and families’ ability to get to work. Zayas framed the issue as an immediate safety concern and a burden on working parents. The board did not take an immediate policy vote at the meeting; instead, district staff described operational steps they say will improve predictability in the coming days.

What was said: Zayas described multiple threads of impact — increased walking distances, children waiting in isolated areas, and car‑line backups that spill onto busier roads — asking the board to "reflect" and prioritize children in future decisions. The superintendent acknowledged the service disruptions that commonly occur early in a school year, said the first three days are often "slow" for route learning, and outlined the district’s plan to add capacity and then further tweak schedules.

Next steps: District staff will monitor the revised routes and make further adjustments as needed; parents were told to contact the transportation department for minor changes and the superintendent for broader safety concerns. The board did not schedule a follow-up action or formal investigation during the Sept. 8 meeting.

Attribution: Quotes and attributions in this article come from the meeting transcript and are attributed to Jennifer Zayas (public commenter) and the superintendent (identified by role in the transcript).