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Home My WebLink About2012-03-01-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee March 1, 2012 at 9am Room G-15, Town Hall Meeting Minutes 1 Attending Judy Crocker, Craig Weeks, Sharon Kendall, Elaine Celi,Jessie Steigerwald (liaison the SC), and guest resident Bonnie Brown 2 Review notes of the February 2 - approved 3 All-Town Kindergarten Orientation - March 15 Ms. Celi reported that the annual All-town grade K orientation for parents will be held on March at Harrington. New this year, she will be present to field any parent questions. 4 Lexington Patch This is a new, local outlet in which to market student safety and bus registration. The following was submitted as an idea for a bi-weekly column Lexinaton Patch The ad hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee and Lexington Safe Routes To School are hoping that the Lexington Patch can help our committees encourage Lexington to address current public safety concerns of excessive single-occupancy car use in transporting students to/ from school Roadway and school traffic policy infractions have become epidemic as more than 500,000 cars annually result in too many cars on too small roads at the same time To that end, we have a suggestion for a once weekly photo column Named "Drivers' Detentions, " it would show a different photo weekly of an infarction from one of Lexington's nine schools with the following caption (Obviously no license plates or faces would be visible ) It would be short and sweet - no additional commentary needed Drivers' Detentions What NOT to Teach our Children Parents ^' take responsibility for your actions by obeying school traffic plans & Town road rules Public Safety benefits everyone! Single-occupancy vehicles have replaced school buses as Lexington's primary method of student transportation The result is more than 500,000 cars annually travel on Lexington's country roads as parents try to maneuver onto neighborhood school grounds that were designed generations ago when the vast majority of the school population walked The ad hoc School Transportation & Safety Study Committee and Safe Routes To School are working towards addressing public safety concerns in and around our schools Roadway and school traffic policy infarctions have sadly become more and more commonplace School principals and staff along with the Lexington Police do not have the resources to consistently enforce rules and policies Drivers seem to understand what is expected behavior, but increasingly prefer to push the boundaries of what is accepted To that end, Driver Detention - What NOT to Teach Our Children will feature a different weekly photo of an infarction from one of Lexington's nine schools Its purpose is to highlight how road rules and school traffic policies apply to everyone and taking responsibility for your actions benefits the entire community 5 Update on School Bus Contract Bid Process Questions were posed on the RFP website so the deadline for proposals has been extended to March 15 6 Review of LWV Candidate's Night(Transportation Questions) a) Question #4 What would be the impact of Article 17 be on the school budget? None. The requested school bus subsidy directly affects the Parent Bus Fee only School Bus Operations are the sum of the LPS Budget plus Parent Fees If passed, the new equation for Bus Operations would be LPS Budget plus (Parent Fee and Town Bus subsidy) The Parent Fee and Town Bus Subsidy would work on a sliding scale to equal current Parent Fee of$500/student,with a $1600 family cap Article 17 hopes to both increase bus ridership (currently 31%) and decrease the number of cars at our schools (more than 500,000/school year) by decreasing the "prohibitive" $550/student Parent Fee Article 17 is but one effort currently underway to lower costs and increase service efficiencies If such improvements are successful and are able to independently lower the $550 Parent Fee, then any surplus Town Subsidy monies would be returned to the Town. b) Question #6. Are school buses the responsibility of the schools or town? An argument has been made that school buses serve the town as much as they do the schools since they reduce overall traffic, infrastructure wear, and pollution and increase pedestrian safety One school bus equals the mass transit capabilities of 36 cars This argument implies that school bus funding would come in part(or whole) from the municipal budget, as is done with Lexpress Counterarguments have been made that school buses' purpose is to bring students safely to and from school and are therefore a school function. No conclusions have been drawn by any Town board or committee on this question. 7 Review of Estabrook Task Force Interim Report(dated Feb 9, 2012) Chair Ms. Ciccolo presented the Interim report to the Selectmen on February 14 Points of interest to this committee include some of Superintendent Ash's comments. • Siting safety and egress concerns, STS is against his recommendation that parking be allowed on one side of Robinson Rd during major school events • STS is against sing Robinson Rd for school deliveries given its width. • STS questioned why LPS administration is against installing a gate at the Robinson access to the school when the same gates are used at Bridge and Clarke • STS and Safe Routes inquired about the lack of dedicated bus lanes 8 Article 4 The interim goal in ridership was determined to be 40%. This was based on ridership over the last 10 years/total enrollment for an historical context. Also,the school bus fee needs to be tied into the Lexpress fee so each are noncompeting with each other 9 Article 17 a. Informational materials -drafted Q&A sheet b Draft presentation - drafted power point c. March 22nd TM Information Session - reviewed presentation 10 March Parent Survey - School Bus Parameters DRAFT Discussed survey results and worked to draft a format. 11 Adjusted Policy& Procedures DRAFT Improving School Bus Efficiencies Adjusting Policies and Procedures Drafted the attached article, including • school bus disciplinary policy • transportation policy • tier service schedule • communication - LPS transportation website and e-newsletter • LPS arrival/dismissal times DRAFT Improving School Bus Efficiencies Adjusting Policies &Procedures In a concerted effort to increase school bus efficiencies with the upcoming school bus contract cycle, some long-standing school policies/procedures may need to be modified in order to provide the most beneficial transportation service for our students Some of the potential unintended consequences moving forward include 1 School Bus Disciplinary Policy • Require students to possess visible bus pass • Charge for replacement passes ($5) o 48 hr grace period o parent calls Transportation Office to make arrangements • Enforce no transportation if student has no pass o Allow the student to board in am but driver makes "no pass" report. o No pm boarding without a pass, unless authorized. Student must proceed directly to the school office • Have parent and student sign bus contract • Adjust disciplinary reporting method to be initiated by the bus driver • Include policy changes in bus driver in-services • On each bus post bus driver's name and student/driver roles • COMPARE to neighboring communities 2 Transportation Policy • Past practice of exclusive Hayden student transportation should either be eliminated or expanded to include other after-school activities (ex. extended day, Lexington center, Munroe Center for the Arts, etc) • Support LPS lease holders, such as extended day programs at Bridge and Bowman • Is this an opportunity to expand last stop of the bus route to include some after school programs? • Possibility of treating bus service for secondary grades as mass transit • COMPARE to neighboring communities 3 What is minimal level of service? Tier structure 4 Communication LPS Transportation Website and e-newsletter • List Distance Eligible streets by school • List bus routes • List school start/end times • Disciplinary policy 5 LPS Arrival/Dismissal Times • Uniform enforcement • Same rules apply to Kindergarteners as G1-5 students • LHS - am tardiness problem Adjourn. Our next meeting will be April 5, 2012 in Town Hall Room G-15 Respectively submitted, Judy Crocker