School leader’s 1st assignment: Fix bus system

“I think we oversimplified, we over-promised, and we under-delivered,” Robert Avossa, superintendent of Palm Beach County Schools, said Wednesday in response to a reporter’s question.

As he closed out an impromptu but necessary news conference on the chaos surrounding the busing of some 60,000 kids this back-to-school week, it was clear that Avossa — who started on the job in June — was frustrated, if not furious.

Good. He should be. And when this mess is all over, some heads probably should roll.

But until then, Avossa was right to say Wednesday that he and his district lieutenants should focus on the “what” and “why” of a massive breakdown in the School District’s transportation system. The breakdown caused parents and students countywide to become frightened and irate. In Wellington, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton, there were complaints of buses arriving hours late or not at all.

Kelly Jones, of West Palm Beach, whose son attends Bak Middle School of the Arts, sent this email at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday:

“Hi ... regarding the county bus situation. Attached is a screen shot of my child’s bus GPS tracking app provided by the district. As you can see, the bus is still running very late, not having reached more than half of the stops on the route. Alas, my child was driven by another parent to school once again … I feel very frustrated … it’s the kids that suffer in the long run. This cannot continue.”

She’s right. Forget about debates over Common Core, charter vs. traditional public schools and how many choice programs are offered. Ask any school parent. Job one is to get the basics right. First make sure the kids are where they need to be, safe and on time. After that, we can start talking about bigger goals.

Avossa blamed the problems on poor “project management discipline” in the district transportation department involving computer software that designed new bus routes. The routes, 649 of them, were not properly tested to make sure that they would actually work — especially during morning rush hour.

And, Avossa said, “tone-deaf ” administrators ignored bus drivers’ warnings about the redesigned routes this past summer, instead choosing to let him believe everything was fine.

“Do people culturally think it’s OK to sugarcoat things?” he said Wednesday. “That’s not how I work.” People who see looming problems “need to come forward and wave a big red flag,” he added.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that transportation officials, as recently as two weeks ago, “relied on faulty intelligence” that they had a cushion of 36 extra bus drivers. So when 50 hired drivers did not show up for work this week, the district was forced to scramble any mechanic or call operator with a CDL license behind the wheel.

Avossa refused Wednesday to blame the drivers, instead saying that it was all part of “a perfect storm” of mistakes. Even if that was the case, what is the excuse for 50 drivers to suddenly call in sick or just not show up at all? Was there some kind of bug going through the district that affected only bus drivers on a mass scale? That’s unlikely.

This was either a coincidence of the worst kind, or a misplaced attempt at making a point.

Either way, parents’ patience is certain to be further strained. The district and bus drivers now seem to be working together, which is good, but no date has been given for when to expect the problem to be fixed.

To his credit, Avossa has sent out an apology to parents and students, and ordered his officials to do the same to school principals. New drivers are being hired, and trained.

We will see how reassuring all of this is when the rubber meets the road come Monday morning.