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Upper Darby committee reviews two policy updates; parent urges better transportation communication and special-ed supports
Summary
Committee reviewed updates to attendance-at-meetings and transportation policies; a public commenter, Diane Munson, urged the district to call day-care providers rather than parents for student pick-ups and said special-education students are being pushed out because of insufficient programs and staffing.
The Upper Darby School District finance and operations committee discussed two policy updates — Attendance Policy 006.1 (attendance at meetings via electronic communications) and Transportation Policy 810 (language update) — and heard a public comment calling for improved transportation communication and better special-education supports.
Fields, the committee co-chair, summarized the two policy updates, saying the transportation update is largely a language change recommended by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and that the attendance policy change would proceed as a first reading at the voting meeting while Transportation Policy 810 would be scheduled for second reading in August.
During public comment, Diane Munson, who identified herself as “Diane Munson, Upper Darby School District” and said she is a working parent, asked that the district contact day-care providers rather than parents when drivers cannot reach a family. “So instead of calling me, I would love them to call day care,” she said, adding that transportation shortages and staffing issues are already affecting students and that she has concerns about autistic and behaviorally challenged students being “pushed out” of the district because programs and staff are limited.
Co-chair Fields and other administrators acknowledged transportation staffing shortages and said adding day-care pickup routes is not currently in the budget. The superintendent called stable, regular transportation the district’s priority and offered to discuss the specifics of Munson’s child privately, directing her to email the superintendent’s office or Mr. Marshallack to schedule a follow-up meeting.
What’s next: The policies will proceed through the scheduled readings (Attendance Policy 006.1 as a first reading at the voting meeting; Transportation Policy 810 for second reading in August). Administrators committed to follow up with Munson and to explain what the district can and cannot do in a public meeting setting.
