Published February 21, 2019
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING —School administrators will hold an open forum for the parents and guardians of Bus 4 students with representatives of North Reading Transportation (NRT) next Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. in the Distance Learning Lab at NRHS.
This is a follow up to the Feb. 11 bus incident in which a relatively new school bus driver took a wrong turn on his afternoon route on his way to the Batchelder School and stopped at a bus stop with an empty bus to tell the waiting parents he was heading to the school to pick them up.
School Superintendent Jon Bernard has stated that the purpose of the Feb. 26 forum is to provide an opportunity for parents to discuss any concerns they have about incidents that have occurred on the bus or that involve bus drivers on their route.
The Feb. 11 incident prompted dozens of parents to voice their concerns about it and many other bus incidents over the past 18 months to two years via the social media Facebook page “North Reading Community Connections” at about 11 p.m. that night which, generated several hundred responses.
School Committee member Mel Webster saw the posts and brought the matter to the attention of Supt. Bernard who called an emergency meeting with NRT on Tuesday and made sure NRT would not allow the driver back on the route until the matter was investigated. He also issued a district-wide email alert to parents that morning and has urged parents who have immediate concerns to contact him, Director of Finance/Operations Michael Connelly, Bus Transportation Coordinator Rosaly MacKillop, or their school principals directly rather than use social media, which administrators do not monitor.
In a follow up letter to Bus 4 parents on Feb. 12 informing parents that the bus driver was re-instated, Bernard explained in part: “Mr. Connelly and I have personally viewed a videotape taken from the on-board bus camera to review the driver’s actions as well as a summary statement written by the driver. I am convinced that the error was an innocent and honest mistake. Be this as it may, the fact remains that there has been an unacceptable number issues with the Bus 4 route in recent months, and my dissatisfaction with these issues has been clearly communicated today to North Reading Transportation’s owner.”
The superintendent added he believes that “providing an opportunity for parents to share their concerns in a personal forum with us and North Reading Transportation representatives will go a long way in helping to answer any remaining questions and provide a greater, personal level of assurance of our commitment to making needed improvements.”
