September 17, 2009

 

Dear Parents or Guardians:

Since the beginning of this school year, a number of concerns have surfaced regarding the bus routes.  Specifically, we continue to experience situations where some bus routes are not conforming to the desired timeframe and have left some students arriving to school after the scheduled starting time.  In some cases, students are being returned home after the school day beyond what we all can agree is a time that is acceptable.  All of the concerns of which we were made aware required significant effort to remedy.

With that said, I wish to begin my message by thanking you for your extraordinary patience as we worked to resolve the challenge that presented itself since the commencement of this school year. 

In the next couple of days, you will receive correspondence from my office via U.S. Mail that will provide you with the identified routes for your child's travel to and from school, the location of your child's bus stop and the pickup and drop off times. A sample of the communication has been provided below.  This correspondence was generated using our transportation routing software after final changes were made to bus routes by members of our transportation staff.  These changes were made in response to what has been outlined above.  Simply put, we realized that some of the bus routes did not work as planned.  In response, we resurrected some past routes where newly designed routes did not achieve the desired goals.  In other instances, we maintained the new routes that were not problematic.  All of the changes were done in collaboration with our drivers.  I anticipate that all letters will be placed in the mail by early afternoon on Friday of this week. 

As a side note, the practice of issuing a similar letter to parents during the summer months prior to the start of any new, school year in the future will be followed. 

 

All of the changes made will be reflected in the letters referenced and the new routes that have been posted on the district's website at www.rsd17.org as of September 17th.  As a means of providing you with ample time to receive and review the correspondence, all changes will be effective on the morning of Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

In the event, you have questions or concerns regarding the information you will receive, please do not hesitate to contact the district's transportation office at (860) 345-8228 or myself at (860) 345-4534. 

In closing, I thank you again for your patience as we worked to resolve a very complex situation. 

Please accept my best wishes for a productive and healthy school year.

I remain.

Very truly yours,

Gary