Catholic school parents upset about proposed bus change

Afternoon route would be affected

Some Peters parents whose children attend St. Louise De Marillac Catholic School in Upper St. Clair are upset about proposed busing changes for the 2018-19 school year.

Peters School District is looking into changing afternoon busing for St. Louise students next year, while the morning routine would remain the same. Parents against the changes attended the June 25 Peters school board meeting to voice their concerns.

According to the state Department of Education, school districts that provide transportation for public school students also must provide transportation to nonpublic schools within a 10-mile radius.

“We are looking at options” for the afternoon route, said Peters school superintendent Jeannine French. “Every year, we look at ways to keep our buses running at capacity.”

Ms. French said the district sent 10 72-passenger buses to St. Louise last year in the afternoon to pick up students who live in Peters.

She pointed out that St. Louise has about 178 students from Peters, but not all of those students ride the bus every day.

For 2018-19, St. Louise students would be picked up at their homes in the morning by one bus and then transfer buses at Peters Township Middle School to be taken to St. Louise — which is what was done during the recently completed school year.

Among the options proposed for the afternoon run are sending two buses to St. Louise. Ms. French said that was not the ideal option because students would be on the bus 45 minutes to 90 minutes later.

She said three buses also could be used to transport St. Louise students, as well as students from other private schools like Hillcrest and St. Thomas More in the afternoon. However, that would have kids getting home as late as 6 p.m.

Another option would be to send three buses in the afternoon to St. Louise and have the students transfer at the middle school, essentially the reverse of what the students now do in the mornings. Ms. French said this option would get the kids home by 3:45 p.m. like last year.

Scott Klipstine, whose children attend St. Louise, said the change would affect his kids because they currently do not participate in the morning bus routine.

He called busing middle school students with St. Louise students “a safety issue.”

“I disagree with interm i n g l i n g elementary school kids with middle school kids,” Mr. Klipstine said.

Ms. French said the St. Louise buses already transport kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

“It would not in any way be unsafe,” Ms. French said.

Parent Jocelyn Vincent said the busing has “been a godsend” to her family and that one of her children used it last year. However, she said she will have a kindergartner using the bus during the upcoming school year.

“I have no idea how a 5year-old gets on a bus and then goes on a transfer at the end of the day and gets home,” Ms. Vincent said.

Tracy Bidoli, director of transportation for the school district, said administrators and staff are on hand before and after school to make sure that students get on the right buses. In the event that a child does get on the wrong bus, the parents are notified, and that child is taken home after the bus completes its normal route, she said.

Resident Douglas Herb said he believes the Peters district does “the bare minimum” regarding busing to private schools.

He said of the eight districts that have kids attending St. Louise, Peters is the only one with a stopover.

“My kids should be able to go to school on a direct route,” he said.

Ms. French said the district can go “back to the drawing board” to see if adding more time to routes would be a better option than the afternoon transfer.

“I know we cannot continue to send 10 buses,” she said.