Supe Pitches Plan to Combine Pulaski, Middle School Bus Routes

As Superintendent Nancy Carney and school board members look to close a $3.2 million budget gap next school year, Carney proposed at a school board meeting this week combining Middle School and Pulaski Street School students on the same bus routes.

The transportation shifts are expected to save the district over a quarter million dollars.

But, according to a Riverhead News-Review article, the proposal has some wondering whether it's safe for the students.

The report quotes Lou Passantino, a bus driver in the district, as saying: “It’s an awesome responsibility, and I wouldn’t want you guys to be counting beans and not know that the issue is safety."

In order to synchronize the two schools, start and end times to the school day will have to be adjusted. Carney said via email on Friday that she believes the school day will line up closer to the middle school, which currently begins at 8:09 a.m. and ends at 2:31 p.m. Pulaski Street currently starts at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3:25 p.m.

Carney added that while it's not uncommon for grades five through eight to ride on the same bus, the district is planning on assigning seats, so fifth and sixth graders are seated in front of buses, and seventh and eighth graders in the rear.

Carney stated at the previous board meeting that in the face of a tax levy cap and rising mandatory payments, expectations are going to have to change when it comes to what the district can offer.

At a Feb. 8 school board meeting, where Carney first announced that changes lay ahead, she warned: "We can't keep coming in under the tax levy and expect things to be the same. It's not going to occur. Things have to change."

The RCSD transportation fleet consists of 67 full-sized buses, 28 vans, and 10 wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Some recently-purchased vehicles are powered by propane, and Carney said vehicles not fueled by diesel are saving the district over $100,000 a year.

Bus drivers logged a total of 1.4 million miles last year, transporting nearly 5,400 students.

The proposed changes call for "centralized, fairly placed bus stops."

Carney offered the following response Friday in response to how transportation shifts could affect the length of bus rides: "With very few exceptions, our students ride not more than 45 minutes. We don’t see these changes affecting that figure in terms of more time on the bus; in some instances we hope to have shorter routes. I am cognizant of the fact that students should not spend more than 45 minutes on the bus, but we should also be mindful that Riverhead is the largest district, geographically, in Long Island."

Detailed information, according to the presentation, will be mailed to students and parents in late August.