Goodrich – Chaos, confusion and plenty of colored name tags greeted several hundred elementary students from Reid and Oaktree Elementary School who rode buses as school opened Sept. 2.
The rough start for students comes after the district cut six bus drivers to save more than $80,000 forcing school officials to come up with a plan to combine school routes for elementary schools into two different shifts. Bus drivers say they believe one of the reasons for the overcrowding is the price of gas forcing parents to ask their high school students to ride the bus.
‘There is a lot of confusion with the colors on the tags,? said bus driver Betty Butterworth. ‘Plus, some of our buses are over capacity. I had one parent very upset yesterday because it took an hour and a half for her child to get home.?
District bus driver Rose Stratton agreed.
‘During the last Board of Education meeting, the plan was to board both schools in ten minues. It’s taking 45 minutes right now to board both schools,? she said.
Both Stratton and Butterworth said the only way to improve the situation is to add more bus runs onto the schedule.
The overcrowding on buses has bus driver, Dana Frost concerned. ‘The middle and high school runs are really packed. There was one high school student who walked up the steps of the bus, looked around and said, ‘Forget it, I will walk.?
Not everyone agreed it was all that bad.
‘Everything is so organized, it’s unbelievable,? Parent, Elizabeth Marasco said,
Reid Elementary School Principal, Paul Minns could not be reached for comment.