West Orange Schools Start Off Year With Busing Troubles

The ongoing transportation issues facing some West Orange students – mainly busing among its 5,000 students – are “completely unacceptable.”

That’s what West Orange Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Rutzky had to say in a Sept. 4 letter to parents and guardians in the district.

“Please know that I am disgusted with our busing issues and plan to fix this problem immediately,” Rutzky stated in the letter.

He cited “continuing” issues such as:

• Inaccurate bus passes not being provided in advance
• Extreme lateness when picking up students
• Buses not showing up to a bus stop
• Students attending an out of district school not being assigned to a bus
• Not providing quality customer service when a parent/guardian needs help

“Although I understand some of these problems have been occurring for years, that does not make it acceptable,” Rutzky wrote. “Since we bus approximately 5000 students, a few problems could happen. However, when the transportation department understands the importance of attention to detail, most of the issues will be resolved by the first day of school. Further, when a problem happens and a parent/guardian needs help, it is the responsibility of the transportation department to listen and help solve the problem as quickly as possible.”

“Please understand that the Board of Education members have nothing to do with transportation,” Rutzky continued. “They do not run the day to day operations. The responsibility is with the director of transportation, Thomas DeAngelo, the business administrator, John Calavano, and me.”

A few days later, Ron Charles, President West Orange Board of Education, provided an update on the busing situation:

“Over the last two days, the West Orange Board of Education members have become acutely aware of the problems the district has been experiencing with the transportation of some of our students. The board, in our roles as board members and parents find these issues unacceptable, and pledge to support or provide whatever is needed to correct these issues.

“My colleagues and I have fielded numerous calls, emails, and text messages about specific issues and have bought these to the attention of the administration, most they already knew about. The Board would like to commend Superintendent Rutzky for addressing these issues head on. Rutzky and his staff have been devoting countless man hours to ensure each is corrected. Processes, systems, and personnel will be reviewed and debriefed and a corrective action plan will be put in place by the administration.”