CINCINNATI — More than 12,000 Cincinnati Public Schools students rely on the bus to get to and from school, but ongoing transportation issues may result in major changes for next school year.
"It's just been a nightmare, start to finish," said Carol Fiel.
Fiel and her husband David have six kids that all go to the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Three of their kids ride the same bus.
"The transportation system has two of them getting on at one end of our street, and the kindergartner getting on a half mile away at the other end of our street," Carol Fiel said.
The Fiels said their children don't arrive at school on time in the morning and there have been multiple instances where the bus ride home is close to two hours long.
CPS father Derek Drifmeyer said his family has also experienced issues.
"My 7-year-old, their bus came about half an hour early and dropped her off on the side of Montgomery Road," Drifmeyer said. "It’s happened multiple times. Like that is completely unacceptable. A 7-year-old should not be dropped off on the side of the main highway."
Drifmeyer said he relies on CPS busing to get his kids to school, but sometimes the bus never shows up.
"I have to let my employer know that I'm not going to be there," Drifmeyer said. "I have to reschedule meetings. I have to drive downtown to drop the kids off. It's always a hassle."
He is in a Facebook group with more than 250 other parents who have had similar issues.
"I feel like it's been pushed off onto the parents like, 'What do you think we should do about it?'" Drifmeyer said. "It’s not our job to solve it. We paid our taxes. We expect the services to be provided."
CPS brought in 4Mative, a transportation technology and consulting company, to analyze some of the district's best options.
One of the solutions presented at Monday night's board meeting was to change school start times. There are currently nine different start times districtwide. The idea is to switch to a two-bell schedule, meaning there would be two start times.
The CEO of 4mative said this could eliminate at least 33 buses, which would save about $2-3 million each year.
Drifmeyer was hoping the presentation would focus more on making sure students arrive at school safe and on time.
"I was a little concerned that a majority of that presentation focused on cost-cutting measures," Drifmeyer said.
However, the district said the two-bell model would also improve buses arriving on time.
Fiel said she is skeptical this will resolve the problem.
"I don't see how that would help in any way shape or form," Fiel said. "I mean ... the system's broken. You can change the data all you want, but if you're you get the finest coffee in the world and put in a broken coffeemaker, you're not going to get a decent product."
Others are on board with the proposed changes. The district held multiple community roundtable discussions to get feedback. Superintendent Iranetta Wright said many of the participants voiced their support for changing the start times.
Wright said she understands this will impact workdays for staff and childcare for families, so she wants to make decisions on this as quickly as possible.
There will be another discussion at the next school board meeting on April 10.
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