School Bus Problems Prompt Letter from Superintendent Mala

Gary Mala, Avon’s superintendent of schools, sent out this email Thursday (also posted on the school district’s website) to parents and others about school transportation problems that have come up when schools reopened this week:

Dear Parents, Staff and Concerned Citizens:

I am again pleased to have this opportunity to communicate with you after realizing a great opening to a new school year. I hope that your children enjoyed their first day back to school.

The purpose of my communication is to acknowledge the transportation issues some of you may have experienced today.

As we all know, the first days of any new school year are sometimes fraught with operational issues, particularly with transportation.

Knowing that we all have high expectations for services, I have discussed the situation personally with the owners of Specialty Transportation a short while ago. They have vowed to provide immediate solutions to better manage the challenges encountered today.

Unfortunately, no one can guarantee that all issues will be addressed in time for tomorrow’s runs but the company has committed to trying.

Specifically, we are aware of the following:

1. The telephone line to Specialty Transportation had a voice mail system that did not accept any messages stating that the system was full.
2. Some students were at designated bus stops at which no bus arrived this morning.
3. There were extended periods of delays causing parents to drive their children to schools.
4. There were continued reported problems with accessing the bus routes via the electronic system used by Specialty Transportation.

In response to these issues, Specialty Transportation plans on implementing the following steps to limit and/or ameliorate the issues:

1. Additional phone lines have been added should you need to speak to a representative of the transportation provider. No voice mail will be used as we have requested that an employee of their company communicate directly with callers.
2. Routes will again be reviewed with all drivers to be sure that all stops are included.
3. Some routes will be adjusted to accommodate the need for more efficiency. Adjusted routes will be posted immediately.

4. Additional buses will be added to the elementary tier of service beginning tomorrow.

5. The electronic communication system used to review routes will again be tested for accessibility.

Specialty Transportation may be contacted directly at (860) 999-4192, (860) 471-5981 and (860) 470-7200.
The bus routes continue to be available at http://www.transfinderi.com?cid=STI4DVDGA581 or by clicking

on the hyperlink posted on the district homepage www.avon.k12.ct.us.

District staff will continue to meet with representatives from Specialty daily until all issues have been satisfactorily addressed.

If you continue to experience difficulty with either reaching a representative of Specialty Transportation oryou have a unique situation that needs further examination, please feel free to contact John Spang, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations. He may be reached at (860) 404-4700 or at jspang@avon.k12.ct.us.

I look forward to communicating with you again very soon.

Very truly yours,
Gary
Gary S. Mala
Superintendent of Schools
Avon Public Schools
gmala@avon.k12.ct.us