Pine Bush School District says it’s addressing bus safety issues

Posted 9/25/19

After hearing from approximately 50 parents at a recent school board meeting about their concerns over the safety of its bus stops, the Pine Bush Central School District says it’s been working …

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Pine Bush School District says it’s addressing bus safety issues

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After hearing from approximately 50 parents at a recent school board meeting about their concerns over the safety of its bus stops, the Pine Bush Central School District says it’s been working to address those issues.

At that meeting, and in the weeks preceeding the opening of the school year, parents complained that many of the new bus stops were unsafe. In some cases, parents complained of their children having to walk long distances and on busy roads -- with no shoulders or sidewalks -- to get picked up. The district, meanwhile, says it has been revamping those routes.

“While about 5,000 of our students who travel to and from school each day seem to be fine with their current transportation, about 350 have raised concerns. More than 200 of those have been resolved,” read a statement posted on the district’s website. After last Tuesday’s (Sept. 10) BOE meeting, we began a more comprehensive effort to review routes and stops in all of the areas where safety concerns have been raised. This route-by-route review is being conducted in partnership with our provider, Birnie Bus, and includes both their management and drivers. Given the complexity of this new effort, it will likely take another week for us to complete that portion. We projected at last Tuesday’s BOE meeting that many more fixes will begin on Monday, Sept. 16. Anyone affected by those changes has been or will be notified in advance. However, we are now projecting another round of changes based on our new route-by-route review that will be targeted to take effect by Monday, Sept. 23, if not before. Parents affected by those changes will similarly receive advanced notification.”

The matter was expected to be discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting at the Circleville Middle School.

“Though the concerns that have been raised represent a relatively small percentage of our ridership, all of those concerns are very real and must be addressed,” read the statement released by the district. “We remain committed to resolving all of the issues brought to us. Our goal is for effective and efficient bus routes that are safe for all our children. It is taking time, as we knew it would, and we continue to ask for your patience and support.”