Thursday, October 11, 2012
A Eureka-Wildwood Patch reader asked if bus capacity could be explained. Patch secured answers from William Sloan, Rockwood School District director of purchasing and transportation.
The following bus-related questions from Patch were addressed by William Sloan, Rockwood School District director of purchasing and transportation in Eureka. How is the number of students allowed per bus arrived at? Specifically, how many students per seat? Some parents think three middle schoolers per seat doesn't leave room. "We work with First Student on ridership and bus loading, but the answer to your question is complicated. The routing system used by First Student utilizes a weighted load factor by grade that determines how many students are assigned to a bus. As an example for high school, a factor of .05 is used for 12th graders. This means 5 percent of the seniors are expected to ride. The factor used for 11th grade is .10, for …
Friday, August 17, 2012
Reactions and answers to this week's concerns about bus drivers from California driving Rockwood School District students follow in this article. When will Rockwood buses get back to "normal?"
New safety-related and background questions about out-of-state Rockwood School District bus drivers over the last two days now are answered. See related articles: How Did Rockwood Transportation Go for First Day Back To School? Rockwood Bus Drivers Fill In From California Who's Really Driving Rockwood Student Buses? Based on a situation described at Thursday evening's Rockwood Board of Education meeting by a district parent and his questions to district representatives, Patch has continued following up on Friday regarding readers' interest in why bus drivers from California suddenly needed to be brought to Missouri to serve as drivers for Rockwood students. The Nebraska Situation That Started This Domino Effect First, Tim Stokes, …
A Rockwood School District parent raises safety concerns about last-minute, out-of-state bus drivers who are transporting students this week. He asked at Thursday's Rockwood Board Of Education meeting if all drivers are familiar with safety standards.
Were out-of-state First Student substitute bus drivers really ready to take on Rockwood School District routes? The answer from the First Student, Inc. transportation contractor was yes; some district parents are not as confident. See related article: Rockwood Bus Drivers Fill In From California Rockwood parent Russ Graves, who lives near Marsh and Clarkson roads, waited with his Westridge Elementary student for 40 minutes extra for the bus pickup on the first day of school Tuesday. He then waited about an hour for the bus to drop off his child at the end of Tuesday. On day two of school this week, he said the bus was 20 minutes late. While Graves said it's understandable to think bus routes will get worked out once school starts, what the…
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
When a shortage of bus drivers popped up among First Student bus transportation in the Midwest, see where some Rockwood School District local drivers went. That move led to more First Student bus drivers coming to Wildwood to make up the difference.
With job shortages and a depressed economy, who knew it would be challenging for student transportation companies to find qualified drivers? This dilemma even affected First Student, Inc., the transportation entity that supplies buses throughout Rockwood School District—including back to school routes Tuesday. A tip from a Eureka-Wildwood Patch reader alledged that out-of-state bus drivers arrived in town Monday, leaving "them no time to learn their (Rockwood) routes." The reader also had heard some local Rockwood bus drivers had been sent elsewhere to make up for a shortage of bus drivers among the U.S. locations serviced by First Student. Patch verified with a First Student representative on Tuesday they sent 13 of their drivers from the…
Friday, April 27, 2012
A KSDK-TV report this week placed Rockwood School District in the top three districts for buses taken out of service by Missouri State Highway Patrol inspectors. Rockwood Superintendent Bruce Borchers responds, says it was minor violations.
For parents whose children ride buses to school, hearing that local buses aren't safe enough to be driven is nerve-wracking. Understanding if these bus-related issues present true dangers to children involves considering the level of defects that exist. When KSDK-TV's Ryan Dean aired a story Thursday about the most number of school buses taken out of service from 2009 through 2011 due to mechanical issues that Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) inspectors said posed an immediate danger to students riding on them, Rockwood School District officials found the district was cited as the third highest among the districts investigated by the television staff. At Thursday evening's Rockwood Board of Education meeting, Rockwood Superintendent …
Thursday, January 12, 2012
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 warning yesterday from local meterologists regarding 2012's first winter blast, some Rockwood School District 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…
Eileen Tyrrell
11:11 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
Yes, Julie I realize that. My point in posting is to show 1) Safety issues occur in several districts. 2) Parkway was prudent in taking immediate action when a safety violation occurred; while Mr. Graves experience with Rockwood, when he raised a significant safety violation by his children's bus driver, was quite different. http://crevecoeur.patch.com/articles/district-parkway-bus-driver-s-… more ›