Cold buses, cold kids

School board hears complaint from Mat-Su Valley student

Jan. 28, 2007

By SHARON G. McBRIDE

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - During a Wednesday meeting chock full of first and second readings of proposed school board policies and a work session designed to review the details of a few thousand school board policies, board members for the Mat-Su Borough School District had a visit from a Wasilla High School junior.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Katie Wieliczkiewicz, a member of the student government and high school band, expressed concern with Laidlaw, the company that was awarded the school district's busing contract last year.

&#8220The contract with Laidlaw has shown that the lowest bidder isn't always the best choice,” Wieliczkiewicz said. During extra-curricular trips on the company's buses, she said, the students have not been warm enough.

&#8220Now, I understand that the inside of a bus is never going to be warm like the inside of a car,” she said. &#8220But enough is enough.”

She said on road trips in order to stay warm enough, the students often have to get into their sleeping bags, despite wearing winter gear.

&#8220Some windows do not even close,” she said. And a six-hour road trip to Fairbanks in those conditions with weather that often drops below zero is &#8220not fun.”

Based on her testimony, the board decided the student transportation situation was worth looking into.

The school board also deliberated on whether to sell three buses to the North Slope Borough School District for $250,000 to make up for a shortfall in the district budget.

That decision was postponed to Feb. 7.

&#8220There seems to be a serious issue with our buses,” said School Board President Larry Devilbiss.

Jim Colver, school board member, agreed with that assessment. However, no action was taken by the board except to ask chief school administrator Robert Doyle for more information.

While the contract provides enough buses to transport students from home to school, Doyle said, &#8220there is never enough buses for activities, especially on Fridays.”

Doyle promised to provide a comprehensive report to the school board for its next meeting that will outline pricing options with different scenarios for student transportation, as well as what the current contract with Laidlaw provides.

It is not clear whether anything can be done about chilly bus rides, however.

&#8220Those buses only warm up to a certain temperature when it's negative 30,” said Traci Crotteau, public information officer for the Mat-Su School District, by telephone Thursday.

&#8220The board has asked for additional information and will hopefully deal with this issue at the Feb. 7 school board meeting.”

Contact Sharon G. McBride at 352-2252 or sharon.mcbride@frontiersman.com.