Lauren Stewart of Lake Monticello, expressed her concern with the lack of reliability in the bus system. When her six-year-old daughter got off of her bus at 5 p.m., an hour and a half later than the scheduled drop-off time, she found her to be physically ill. “Five and six-year-olds were sitting on the bus for two hours in 90 degree weather,” she told the Fluvanna Review.
Another parent, whose daughter is in fourth grade at Carysbrook Elementary School, was waiting at the same stop as Stewart, near Beach Two in Lake Monticello. When the bus pulled up, she was informed that her child was not on the bus and had actually been waiting for her mother at school for the past two hours.
“We knew coming in that there was a lot of angst around the new schools, but I felt that based on what I had been hearing that the school board and school system had it all under control,” she the parent who asked that her name not be used. “Yesterday [Monday] it was clear that they did not.”
Many, however, were pleased with the transportation on the first day of school. Of 35 comments on the Fluvanna Review’s Facebook page, about half were positive. “We are the last stop and our bus came at exactly 7:27, the posted time. I was very impressed!” wrote Danielle Des Rochers Lewandowski.
“Right on time to the fourth bus stop, my house,” wrote Aimee Wiersma. “Not bad for a new route and new bus driver to the area.”
Tom Patrick, director of operations for Fluvanna County public schools, emailed parents Monday night (Aug. 13) explaining the difficulties that come with trying out a new system for the first time. “With 6 schools this year rather than 5, new grade configurations, and different school start times, the transportation department had to make changes and revisions to the majority of the bus routes,” wrote Patrick. “We will make every effort to look into the concerns that have been communicated to us, and ask for your patience and understanding during this process this first week of school.”
