Opening Day

[Pat Garaffa]

You are right and both should take pride in their jobs.  I was referring to the passengers.  Those carts have already been emptied of kids and packages.  The cargo no longer exists.  A lost or misplaced empty cart would never jeopardize the safety of a child.  I can’t say the same for a bus filled with kids.    

I don't agree.  Why is it acceptable to have hiring criteria with the drivers but complete knowledge of their bus route ON DAY ONE is not one of those conditions? Regardless of who provides the knowledge - it needs to be done prior to the first pick-up and not through trial and error.  

The school didn't prepare the driver for the interview or drive them there. And the driver didn't bath and get dressed in the interviewer's office or at the expense of the interviewer's time either.  Instead, they each stepped through the door ready to be qualified worthy of the job.  

I agree that the school should prepare them for their first day on the job.  But why do we wait until the first day of school to do it?  

When they do 110% they always get overtime pay so what do we do when they only deliver 90%?  If they are getting paid 100% on day one – shouldn’t they be doing their jobs 100% on day one too?  

Bottom line - Their first day of work should not be the first day of school.  That should be their second day of work.  And if we can't afford it then we demand that they know the route as part of their hiring criteria.  No different then the dress code, punctuality, no smoking, etc.  There is no trial and error with those rules so why do we tolerate anything less with knowledge of the route?   

Oh I forgot - union rules right?   Slackers unite!

[Kathy_Baratta]

I agree that the routes should be done on a dry run but who is going to pay? Testing? Again who is going to pay? Drivers are not going to do it in their own cars and the school board has no money to pay them or the fuel cost to do it. Even if the drive did and an accident accrued the law suits would follow and we would have something else to complain about.

How do you imply that collecting shopping carts are somehow degrading in one post and quote MLK in your next?

And that is exactly why we're no longer "Number One!" and won't be as long as mediocrity is acceptable. You know. "Okay is Okay," (no matter how many mad hatters hold tea parties).

The fact is if I were taking a job as a school bus driver I would ABSOLUTELY, ON MY OWN TIME, IN MY OWN CAR, ride the route until I not only knew it by heart but any shortcuts there were that might become necessary. And not only speaking for myself but I had a girlfriend from childhood who went on to marry and live in Old Bridge. She drove a FRHSD school bus for a few years and SHE did exactly the same thing I described above as did others she worked with at the time. As a point of fact, Howell was, at the time, one of the worst for getting lost for we people a little more north had ever experienced.  

I know I've said it before, but 20 to 30 years ago you could get as lost in Howell or Jackson as you could in the bowels of a Pacific Northwest forest! Some of the worst lost I ever experienced as a younger driver was driving in Howell.   But that was then (more than three decades ago) and this is now and I think it hits the button right on the head as to precisely what is wrong with "today." Nobody wants to do anything unless they are compensated for it with money. Pride in a job well done, that doesn't buy Blahnick shoes or Blackberries and that is all that matters anymore. The standard by which all are judged - filthy lucre. The sad part is most of us don't realize it. That's why Pat could quote MLK and make the Home Depot comment as well. Doesn't make him bad - just makes him honest.

KB

[Jody_Branin]

My neighbor is a bus driver and yes, she does a dry run sometime during the week before school starts.

As far as how many students per seat - some bus seats are filled by only one student going to school.   

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//100901/480/urn_publicid_ap_org237ca94b4bdf42f89591ddcf4ef0b5d9/

[Thomas Jennings Jr.]

Those are some of the better looking students! ;-)

Cute dogs!

[Laura_Kurtz]

Jody - LOVE the picture!  Gave me a good chuckle!   

While I cannot complain about our bus driver being late picking up/dropping off (though I have a friend who is going through total hell with her bus driver), I will say that our bus driver is NOT the friendliest driver I've met so far.  First day, I gave her a friendly good morning greeting followed by an important piece of information that I never got to finish because she cut me off, rudely.  I knew then I was in for a rough ride with her!  LOL   We actually have an 8 seat van with 4 students and an aide.  The 4 students all were given an assigned seat on the 2nd day.  Nothing provoked this but I have a sneaky suspicion that the bus driver does not want anyone to talk to each other on the long ride to MSS.   Some bus drivers are a strange breed.  I have the name and number for transportation handy should I need it.  Scary thing is, they know me by name!

Hoping for a smooth year!   

[Pat Garaffa]

It's not complicated.  And I am confident that many (if not most) of the drivers recognize the importance of this.  And I am also confident that some will do a dry run, in their own car and on the own time even though the school is unwilling to pay the entire one hour of wages required for the trip.  

It would be nice to get paid but sometimes you have to put the kid's safety and the job above that entire 1 hour's worth of wages.   No money?  So what - do it anyway!    

I didn't have to go far to find some proof.  I mentioned this debate to my wife.  She told me about a co-workers daughter who lives on the west side of route 9 and goes to one of the Middle Schools.  She had the wrong number printed on her bus pass so naturally she ended up on the wrong bus on the way home.  

She said she made it to school on time and on the correct bus but this snafu happened on the way home.  I guess the in-bound bus number was different than the homebound bus number?  Or there were two numbers on the bus card?  

Anyway - the bus number was not the fault of the driver and this one could be blamed on the transportation department.  The bus was correct and the card was misprinted with the wrong info.  

But the kid told her mom that the driver got lost regardless and ended up in Jackson before returning the kid back to the Middle School school.  

So now we have a lost driver along with a misprinted bus card.  1 kid and 2 mistakes.   That's a pretty bad ratio.

[Thomas Jennings Jr.]

That assumes that the child was correct. They definitely have a tendency of inflating a story when they want to.

It is definitely possible that the kid misread the bus card (still the fault of the transportation dept for making it confusing and not sending till the last possible minute) and got on the wrong bus. The driver could have still been in howell but since the child did not recognize that particular area, all of a sudden its "jackson". If the child was on the wrong bus, they would have to take them back to the middle school anyway (you can't just chauffeur a kid all over town on the wrong bus until you find their house).

Kids do funny things...then they go home and tell their parents. And as we've said before, it becomes the worst game of telephone with the story changing a little more every time.

[Pat Garaffa]

Tom,

The "Jackson" part of your explanation is possible.  For that matter, the kid could have easily said they were in New York.  But it’s also possible she was right.  It’s not as if they have to cross a bridge or tunnel to get there and one wrong turn out of a west Aldrich Road development puts you in Ocean County.  And any kid who lives on the west side of nine is probably accustomed to those boundaries.  

But I agree and that could have gone either way.  

But the bus pass was wrong and it was confirmed by the parents and the transportation department.  The bus didn't drive her home that day.  She got on the wrong bus and then they drive her back to the school.  The parents had to go pick her up since her correct bus had long since departed.  

We would often joke with the new parents in our scout troop and we would comment that “we have a 97% track record.”  Some would ask “97% in what” and we would answer “we take 30 kids camping and we have never returned with less than 29!”  
 
Of course, that was a joke.  There will always be some mistakes on bus cards or routes but these should be the absolute minimum and we should strive to make them go away completely.  And there is never a margin of error when we are dealing with kids in scouts or school.  100% is the absolute minimum.    

[Pat Garaffa]

So what happened today?  

The bus arrived on-time on Friday but never showed up at all this morning (day 2 - Tuesday).  

My daughters HHS bus is scheduled for 6:50.  I know there is a little trial and error and they usually settle into another time slot where they remain consistent.  10 minutes later is usually the norm and it's been that way for years with all my kids.

But today she waited until 7:15.  And then we loaded up the van with a bus stop filled with impatient kids and off to school we went.  Class starts about 10 minutes later so they weren't able to wait much longer.  And as I arrive back home, I see a bus driver driving around the neighborhood with an empty bus.  And no doubt cursing the kids for not being on the stops.  How ironic that the kids are more aware and concerned for their required start time yet the bus driver is without a clue.    

Maybe someone forgot to tell the bus driver that school is EVERYDAY, not just Friday.  Hopefully this will improve and it won't be the new norm.  

[Pat Garaffa]

Same thing today!  No bus and another caravan of cars to the high school. 
That's 1 out of 3 days they got it right.  Not exactly the success rate we were counting on. 

Maybe the driver is reading this thread? 

[John Gazire]

I would like to see some input or cooperation from our current BOE members on this website.  This website has to be used as a two-way street. If a BOE member, candidate, or any public official wants to use a website to drum up votes or express their opinions on current topics then they also have to show accountability when issues/problems are brought up.  I think that is only fair.

[Pat Garaffa]

John,

I agree.  These blog sites aren't just here to drum up votes and they could also be used to keep those votes in the next election.  Nothing worse than an active and vocal candidate before an election and stone cold silent the day after.  How about it guys? 

P.S.  I called the transportation department and left a few messages.  Still no reply.  I am sure they are swamped with issues and hopefully they'll find my daughters bus before Monday.      

[MaryBeth_OBrien]

Pat call the BA's office. Sean Boyce. He oversees the transportation dept. Funny I got a call back within 15 minutes when I told them I would call every 15 minutes until some one addressed my issues with the bus.

mb

[Ray_Spengler]

If it were me receiving the call, it would only take one call to receive a call back at some point.  No threats would be needed, no ultimatums, just common courtesy to call back when someone calls about a complaint.  Same day if the call was early in the day.... but that's if it were me.  Its common sense.... to me.

My opinion - means nothing to anyone else but me.

[Pat Garaffa]

"Pat call the BA's office. Sean Boyce."

Marybeth - is he in charge of the local or the FRHSD transportation department?  My daughter is at HHS so this is a FRHSD problem. 

But I like your style and I plan to fill up their voice mail over the weekend.  And maybe I'll run their fax out of paper too!   

My friend taught me a neat annoying fax trick.  And no - it doesn't involve adding someone’s home phone number to a local Chinese Restaurant 3:00 AM faxing service.  But that’s a great trick too and should be saved for my next attempted revenge.     

Take 3 sheets of paper and tape 2 together end to end.  Scribble your messages repeatedly across all three sheets.  Feed the two taped sheets into the fax until one sheet is on the exit tray and the second sheet is on the input tray.  Then take the third sheet and tape all three together into a 3 page loop.  Then dial and let it go. 

The fax machine will think you sent a 1000 page fax and will loop and run until their paper is exhausted.  And with any luck, it will continue to run after their paper runs out and fill their fax machine’s memory to capacity.  They’ll add more paper and the faxes will continue even after the paper has been replenished.  (Unless they are smart enough to know how to reset/turn off the machine.)     

Your message will fill their paper trays and hopefully spill all over the floor.   

I'm glad I have friends who think this way! 

Jamie mentioned a “new way of getting things done” on another thread.  Personally, I like the old ways better!  LOL!