Bus pick up, drop off location unsafe say parents

Wantage — Two families have asked the state to intercede in a dispute with the school district on behalf of their young children. At issue is what the school district is defining as a safe bus stop for young children, all of whom are handicapped and in special programs. The problem began when the Sussex-Wantage school board decided to discontinue as of next week door-to-door service between the Clifton E. Lawrence School and Kiddie Academy on Boulder Hills Boulevard. The preschool is located in the new Town Center on Route 23. The decision affects children enrolled in a special pre-school handicapped program at the Lawrence School who also attend the Kiddie Academy. For a brief period of time, the district had acceded to the parents’ request for door-to-door busing. In either case the district considers the service “courtesy busing.” Now, the bus will pick up and drop off children in front of a food court at the Town Center, a decision the parents decry as unsafe for their children because it involves a parking lot area, rather than the door of their preschool. Several of the children who had been using this service are under 4 and have serious medical conditions. To get the children to the stop at the food court, a supervisor from the preschool accompanies them through the parking lot to wait for the bus. The families affected and others have filed requests for “emergent relief” — an immediate although interim decision — with the Office of Special Education at the state Department of Education. A response from the state is expected soon. According to the school district’s superintendent, Dr. Edward Izbicki, the stop is safe and the district’s lawyers and insurance carrier support it. Petitioning for the service Back in November 2010, a group of nearly 60 parents with children enrolled at Kiddie Academy signed a petition requesting that the district provide door-to-door service for Lawrence School students “for the safety of our children.” In January 2011 Susanne Henry, a parent of children at Kiddie Academy, filed a complaint against the school district. “I am frustrated and cannot comprehend the excuses and lack of concern shown by the Sussex-Wantage Regional Board of Education,” said Henry in her affidavit. “We place our children and trust in you. You should be ashamed of your actions and you will be held accountable for your lack of concern.” But in April, the district notified three families and Kiddie Academy that the stop will revert to the previous location in front of the food court in the Town Center. Sherri Hawthorne, a Wantage resident, said that she was never personally notified about the change. Her 3-year-old son recently enrolled in the preschool disabled program at the Lawrence School and attends the afternoon program at Kiddie Academy as well. He is currently being dropped off at the front door of Kiddie Academy. Long history Kiddie Academy Director Diany Martinez has been requesting door-to-door bus/van services since the child care center opened in 2008. “We have become more aggressive with our requests because of the demand for services and the hazards of Route 23,” Martinez said this week in a telephone interview. This month, school district superintendent responded. In an April 6 letter Sussex-Wantage superintendent Dr. Edward F. Izbicki told Martinez that door-to-door transportation would be discontinued and students would be dropped at the food court area. Izbicki said the decision is based on information from the district’s lawyers and insurance carrier. According to an e-mail from the district’s insurance representative, George Morville of the Morville Agency in Newton: “The safe delivery and pick up of students is the responsibility of the board of education and making sure the site is acceptable is of the utmost importance.” Morville noted in an e-mail to Izbicki that drop/pick up zones should meet the same safety standards as any other location: among them safe negotiation by driver, adequate sight distance from approaching vehicles, proper supervision, security of the zone (cones, crosswalks etc.). Parents contend, and Martinez concurs, that the Town Center property is an active parking lot and therefore safety is compromised. In an October 2010 letter from Donald and Raijean Johannsen of Sussex to the Sussex-Wantage Regional Schools’ transportation coordinator Barbara Duvall, Johannsen includes a detailed list of concerns she has about the current (Route 23) pick up/drop off location. “There are no crosswalks or walkways or safety zones fro the children to cross the designated stop,” the couple wrote. The Johannsens have a 3-year-old son with learning disabilities and severe asthma who attends the Lawrence School morning session for pre-school disabled children and then the Kiddie Academy in the afternoon. The Johannsens also reference a log of busing activities maintained by Kiddie Academy listing several incidents dating back to last summer including: an accident involving a car hitting a utility pole at the stop, an overturned truck spilling fuel unassisted children asked by the driver to exit the bus and cross around and between traffic to get to the Town Center complex early arrival and late pick up that leaves children in inclement weather for extended periods of time. “These are 3- to 5-year-old children. It’s a shame the board doesn’t think of them as precious cargo,” said Raijean Johannsen during a phone conversation this week. Disputed responsibility Izbicki’s April 6 letter also knocks the property owner. “Until the landlord of the property where Kiddie Academy is located complies with the Zoning Board requirements in order to change the classification from private to public we will be unable to transport to the front door of Kiddie Academy.” One question is whether Boulder Hills Road is a public or private road, something Izbicki contacted Wantage Township Administrator James Doherty about. “I was contacted by Dr. Izbicki about a month ago,” Doherty said recently. Doherty admits he was unable to make a determination about the road from the documents on file, so he sent a request for interpretation by the township’s land use board.

What’s next?
The issue will be discussed at the April 26 meeting of the Wantage Land Use Board.
School officials were contacted by phone and e-mail for comment, but were not returned prior to presstime. Sussex-Wantage Regional schools are closed this week for spring recess. Classes resume on Tuesday April 26.