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The topic of the existing school bus schedule was brought up at the North Pocono School Board meeting last week.
Parents expressed concern over the fact that some bus routes, particularly those that are far away from the schools and cover a larger geographical area, start way too early for school-age children.
Paul Brundage, a parent from Jefferson Twp., explained to the board that he had reviewed the bus schedule and discovered that there are 24 bus routes that begin before 6:30 a.m. As a result, kids are left standing outside in the dark, which raises a safety concern.
Denise Coco, also from Jefferson Twp., continued the thought by saying that her two boys need to be awake by 5 a.m. in order to catch the school bus, which in her case arrives as early as 5:50 a.m.
Coco also explained that in order for her children to get the proper amount of sleep each evening, they would have to be in bed by 7:30 p.m. She said there are nights that is logistically impossible because basketball practice does not even start until 7:30 p.m.
The board has been looking at this issue in advance of these two public concerns. Superintendent Bryan McGraw and some of his staff actually drove behind buses to try to get a handle on the issue.
The board is proposing the following changes:
• Bus 29 – HS/MS Run – Start run at 6:20 a.m. (presently 6 a.m.)
• Van 13 – Archbald Mt. - Start run at 6:35 a.m. (presently 6:15 a.m.)
• Bus 6 – NPI Run - Start run at 7:55 a.m. (presently 7:35 a.m.)
• Bus 29 – JEC Run - Start run at 8 a.m. (presently 7:40 a.m.)
Superintendent McGraw said that they plan on having this plan up and operational by next school year.
In other news, there were four separate requests for additional sports funding:
1) Allison Mackenzie James asked for money to fund transportation for the North Pocono Co-ed Cheer Squad to travel to Myrtle Beach, SC to compete in a competition.
2) Chris Alexander and Ryan Rinaldi, NPHS class president, asked for $2,500 for new uniforms for the volleyball team.
3) Shelby Austin and Taylor Valenti asked for $4,395 for the varsity basketball cheerleaders.
4) Robert Lamanna asked for $1,000 to start a lacrosse team in North Pocono.
While no promises were made by the board to commit to any of these requests, they assured them that they would consider each one carefully. However, everyone was reminded that in light of the drastic cutbacks in state funding for education, they were not sure if there would be any money available.
Ralph Antidormi, a concerned citizen from Madison Twp. said in response to these requests, “I have nothing against sports, but we cannot pay for everything. When I was growing up we all played a sport, too...it was called work!”
The topic of the existing school bus schedule was brought up at the North Pocono School Board meeting last week.
Parents expressed concern over the fact that some bus routes, particularly those that are far away from the schools and cover a larger geographical area, start way too early for school-age children.
Paul Brundage, a parent from Jefferson Twp., explained to the board that he had reviewed the bus schedule and discovered that there are 24 bus routes that begin before 6:30 a.m. As a result, kids are left standing outside in the dark, which raises a safety concern.
Denise Coco, also from Jefferson Twp., continued the thought by saying that her two boys need to be awake by 5 a.m. in order to catch the school bus, which in her case arrives as early as 5:50 a.m.
Coco also explained that in order for her children to get the proper amount of sleep each evening, they would have to be in bed by 7:30 p.m. She said there are nights that is logistically impossible because basketball practice does not even start until 7:30 p.m.
The board has been looking at this issue in advance of these two public concerns. Superintendent Bryan McGraw and some of his staff actually drove behind buses to try to get a handle on the issue.
The board is proposing the following changes:
• Bus 29 – HS/MS Run – Start run at 6:20 a.m. (presently 6 a.m.)
• Van 13 – Archbald Mt. - Start run at 6:35 a.m. (presently 6:15 a.m.)
• Bus 6 – NPI Run - Start run at 7:55 a.m. (presently 7:35 a.m.)
• Bus 29 – JEC Run - Start run at 8 a.m. (presently 7:40 a.m.)
Superintendent McGraw said that they plan on having this plan up and operational by next school year.
In other news, there were four separate requests for additional sports funding:
1) Allison Mackenzie James asked for money to fund transportation for the North Pocono Co-ed Cheer Squad to travel to Myrtle Beach, SC to compete in a competition.
2) Chris Alexander and Ryan Rinaldi, NPHS class president, asked for $2,500 for new uniforms for the volleyball team.
3) Shelby Austin and Taylor Valenti asked for $4,395 for the varsity basketball cheerleaders.
4) Robert Lamanna asked for $1,000 to start a lacrosse team in North Pocono.
While no promises were made by the board to commit to any of these requests, they assured them that they would consider each one carefully. However, everyone was reminded that in light of the drastic cutbacks in state funding for education, they were not sure if there would be any money available.
Ralph Antidormi, a concerned citizen from Madison Twp. said in response to these requests, “I have nothing against sports, but we cannot pay for everything. When I was growing up we all played a sport, too...it was called work!”
