Rambunctious elementary school children standing along a busy road is a disaster waiting to happen, a group of parents told the Mars Area school board Tuesday.
The parents want the school bus to pick up their children inside the Field Lake Estates housing plan instead of at the entrance to the plan on Myoma Road.
Eight residents of the new housing plan attended the school board's agenda meeting Tuesday and gave board members a petition signed by 25 people who want the bus stop moved away from Myoma Road.
District policy is to not send full-size buses into plans that are still under construction, said Jill Puryear, district business manager. "Eventually, we will go into the development ... once the majority of the construction is completed," she said.
But, Brad Rosenberg, who lives in the plan, said 20 to 25 vacant lots are left, and it could be another year or two before the plan is completed.
Matt Maier, district transportation director, said the policy came about after a school bus was hit by a construction vehicle in another plan.
"An 84-passenger bus, unfortunately, takes a lot of cul-de-sac to turn around in," he said. If a truck is parked there, the bus cannot turn around.
Mr. Rosenberg asked if the bus could come into the plan as far as the first cross street, pick up the kids, then make a three-point turn to go back out the same way.
That also would be difficult for a full-size bus, Ms. Puryear said.
"Believe me, this is not a new situation," Dr. Pettigrew said, adding that the district has had similar complaints at least 20 times in the past 10 years.
Karen Rosenberg said 22 children get on the bus at the stop in the morning and 26 get off in the afternoon. "I saw a child have to be pulled back from Myoma Road at the last minute," said Michael Weale, whose four children wait at the stop. "We can't have them on a leash. No matter how far back we stand, they run."
Mr. Weale said he has seen impatient drivers pass the bus while was boarding, a violation of state law. And, he said, the driver sometimes pulls away before children are seated, causing some to fall. If the stop was inside the plan, the driver would not feel as rushed, he said.
Board members and administrators said they will study the situation, talk with the builder to ask whether construction vehicles could be parked off the road and look into whether two smaller buses or vans could be used at that stop. They also will tell the bus contractor buses are not to move until all children are seated.
First Published: October 9, 2005, 4:00 a.m.