Community Corner

Snowball Effect Has Rockwood Parents Again Asking About Bus Transportation Issues

Student transportation hurdles that occurred last March during a fluky sleet and snow storm on many major roadways in the Rockwood School District area prompted parent concerns and district changes. Some of those issues are back today.

Despite the regarding 2012's first winter blast, some bus routes and issues left some students and their families in the lurch.

Rockwood parents began sharing concerns early this morning on the Eureka-Wildwood Patch Facebook page. Michael Blacketer posted that Rockwood's notice about late-running buses came out at 8:17 a.m., "when ALL of the middle school students are already on (or at least waiting) for a bus LONG before then"—which is a great point, particularly for all families in which both parents work and decisions about children generally have to be made between 5:30 a.m. to 6:45 a.m.

Another parent, Kimberly Robinson Schoch, posted on Eureka-Wildwood Patch Facebook she wondered how it was possible that her daughter's middle school bus decided not to run at all today. This bus services . She stated another bus picked up one of the stops on her daughter's route and that driver said their bus wasn't running this morning. "I ended up taking my daughter to school late, but if the buses aren't going to run at all, school should be canceled!" she posted.

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Why Rockwood Parents Get Nervous

A snowballing effect happened literally on March 14 when treacherous snow conditions prevented bus drivers on Rockwood School District routes from getting to where they typically should be during morning routes, some with and without students onboard. It's what happened to groups of students and multiple communication voids that kept Rockwood parents still talking about the issue that entire week that followed. It's also what drove Rockwood and First Student transportation managers to meet that week and decide how similiar, future situations should be better handled.

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That Monday scene was admittedly a huge challenge, which caught everyone by surprise. Weather forecasts did not predict the unsafe combination that a layer of sleet topped with snow suddenly caused, all within about 30 mintues between approximately 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

After multiple accidents, Missouri Route 109—which is one of the few ways drivers can get from to —was shut down.

Accidents near Antire Road on Interstate 44 also had drivers at a standstill at the busy intersection of I-44 and 109. It took 45 minutes that morning just to pass through the intersection, let alone get anywhere. It became a complete bottleneck.

The one road left to get to and from the schools in and was Old State Road, which is hilly and bordered by many steep embankments. It, too, was shut down due to accidents at one point; one involved a bus with Rockwood students. Rockwood parents compared notes about that accident again on Eureka-Wildwood Patch. No students were injured, but everyone was more nervous than normal due to weather conditions.

The overall situation eventually created the unusual condition of middle school students being held at the high school, and with some middle school teachers leaving to go to the high school to help handle the overflow. Eureka High school student drivers who tried to get to school couldn't, and the vast majority ended up not attending school that day.

Two buses with Rockwood students then unexpectedly were parked at the in Eureka near the I-44/109 intersection that morning, a fact that Patch did confirm that week with the gas station and convenience store's managers. However, if it weren't for the students on those buses with cell phones calling their parents, the parents did not know the location of their children.

On this particular winter day and in this case, the AlertNow communications system for Rockwood parents either was not activated quickly enough or failed in the mission of notifying parents of emergencies. Some parents publicly cited the principal staff at LaSalle Springs Middle School for not communicating nearly quickly enough about the whereabouts of their children really being at a gas station, after parents thought they were being held at the high school.

Steps Rockwood Took

Patch interviewed Rockwood School District Chief Communications Officer Kim Cranston right after the March incident. She said she and other staffers had met with Bill Sloan, the district's transportation director, as well as the First Student bus leadership team to go through all the developments of the transportation concerns of that fateful day.

Cranston said that morning was further complicated by the malfunctioning of the intruder alert system at 7 a.m. at Crestview Middle School in Ellisville, which needed the attention of certain district staffers. She said their standard protocol and reactions were followed for that, though.

The components the group reportedly discussed were:

  • Communciations between bus drivers and schools—defining who calls whom during unexpected weather, wrecks and road closure developments.
  • Designating predetermined areas for bus stops in the event of inclement weather. This was to include safer streets or select subdivisions if certain roads appeared to be too hazardous.

"It was a challenging day, but our immediate mission was to ensure all students were safe and accounted for," she said.

On the positive side, Cranston said there were several accounts of Rockwood teachers and staff going above and beyond typical responsibilities to supervise students.

Why Wasn't School Canceled that Day?

Cranston said the size of Rockwood School District makes it difficult to anticipate every single situation that might occur. She said on that morning, they were given no indications that Route 109 would be closed or any time when it was expected to re-open. "We were listening to weather reports, and they were all indicating the bad weather was going to stop," she said.

She said Missouri Department of Transportation workers were out plowing prior to their decisions about school having to be made, and that there simply is a short window of time during which to make such judgments.

"Thinking of the bigger picture, we knew people were already out on the roads and parents already were on their ways to work, so child care arrangements likely were going to be a problem," she said.

"Once things are rolling, it's difficult to pull them back."

What About Delayed Start Times for School?

Is it feasible on days, such as today, to push back the start time of schools to allow for more time for streets to be cleared and conditions further assessed?

Cranston said the three-tiered system followed by the bus drivers makes delayed starts "just not a manageable situation." She said delayed starts are not feasible given kindergarten afternoon sessions. "It isn't a viable solution when you consider the time it takes for the drivers to get to and from certain locations, and that different transportation times put bus drivers trying to weave through rush hour traffic."

Your Turn: What suggestions to you have for Rockwood School District regarding how to communicate these last-minute transportation issues caused by weather such as today's?


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