Lebanon school officials defend bus operations

LEBANON — Buses that don’t have a full load of students are grinding some residents’ gears, but Lebanon school officials say the district’s transportation department is operating as efficiently as possible.

Lebanon School board President Donna Davis-Norris and Superintendent Mark North responded Monday, Sept. 20, to complaints they have received about what appears to be inefficiencies in transporting students to and from school.

Norris said one resident left an anonymous message asking why a bus was parked at Walmart. In accordance with the district’s practice, North said the driver “needed to use the facilities” during a layover between transporting students and did nothing wrong.

North said drivers are allowed to stop along their routes during layovers for such purposes; they are not allowed to leave their route or go shopping during such times.

Others have complained that buses are pulling out of schools without a full load of students.

North said there are three scenarios in which that happens: the bus is on its way to another school in the district to pick up additional students; the bus is transporting students to area parochial schools; or the bus is transporting students who live on the district’s outlying border.

“If you have children who live on the east or west border, they get home a lot later and buses will not be as heavy,” North said.

Ohio law dictates that public schools transport nonpublic students to their school of choice within a half hour of the district; in some cases where such services are impractical, districts seek approval from the state to pay the parent in lieu of transportation.

Transportation administrator Craig Hurtt provided school board members with figures that show how the department operates.

With a budget of about $4.7 million, the district transports 5,420 students everyday; of those 102 are special needs students and 357 are non-public students, according to school records. Drivers travel 5,052 miles per day, more than 900,000 a year, on 143 bus routes, according to records.

Despite the district’s large size, 79 square miles, only 17 students ride the bus for longer than 60 minutes, Hurtt said.

The district’s operations are under close scrutiny as voters are being asked to renew a $4.2 million operating levy on Nov. 2. School officials have said an additional tax increase request appears likely next year to avoid a deficit in 2012.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or rwilson@coxohio.com.

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