New school busing system promises efficiency

A new bus route system, implemented in September, centralizes pickup spots, and reduces how far students have to walk, according to Spokane Public Schools officials.

However, Amanda Hamilton, a parent in Browne’s Addition believes the new system is ignoring the realities of neighborhoods like hers.

“It is mostly centralized for the neighborhood, if you were to think of Browne’s Addition as a map and not as people,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the new bus stop forces her first-grader to walk through Coeur d’Alene Park to get to the eastern edge, where the bus stops.

“We have issues with homeless campers in the park,” Hamilton said. “And people that are in active addiction.”

Kirk Tostenrude, transportation supervisor for Spokane Public Schools, said he’s aware of Hamilton’s concerns. He said he checked out the bus stop, and had district security personnel check the park during normal bus pickup and drop-off times.

The current Browne’s Addition stop is on the eastern side of the Coeur d’Alene Park. Although Tostenrude said he is sympathetic to Hamilton’s complaints, the spot won’t be moved. Hamilton lives on the western side of the park and more families live on the eastern side.

“I’m not going to change the stop just for that,” he said. “It’s not fair for all the other students. It has to be equitable in the area to move a spot.”

Hamilton said other parents at the stop don’t like where the spot is located.

“Almost every single other parent at that bus stop hates that stop,” she said. “I think that it’s impacting every Browne’s Addition parent whose kids take the bus.”

Hamilton said she’s asked for the stop to be moved, or to add another neighborhood stop.

Hamilton said adding a bus stop, or moving a bus stop isn’t a simple task. Every day the district transports 7,000 students via bus, while roughly 23,000 walk to school. Any individual change affects the whole system.

Tostenrude said students walk on average 0.29 of a mile, whether it’s to a bus stop or to school. Prior to the change students who took the bus walked, on average, 0.10 of a mile, or roughly one city block.

“This is equitable walking distance for everyone,” Tostenrude said. “We’re not weaving in and around neighborhoods anymore.”

Prior to this fall the district’s bus routes hadn’t been reworked in 28 years, Tostenrude said. The change, which the board of directors approved, shifted the bus system to a neighborhood stop system. Tostenrude said this attempts to centralize bus stops. Under the old system children that took the bus were walking, on average less than a block, while children that walked to school were walking up to a mile. The new bus system attempts to put bus stops in public areas, like parks, instead of stopping in front of individual homes.

“You’re always going to have some people that will be upset that the stop isn’t in front of their house,” he said.

While there have been complaints, Tostenrude said there haven’t been as many as he anticipated. And, although Hamilton’s specific complaint won’t lead to change, he said the district is willing to change if necessary.

“This is a growing thing,” he said. “We’re not waiting around to make a change.”

Although the school district is responsible for the bus routes, Durham School Services provide the buses and drivers. Katie Storo has a third-grade student in Spokane Public Montessori, and while she likes the new busing system, she’s had problems with her child’s bus being late. Her child is picked up at Manito Park and she’s frustrated that the district doesn’t know when or why buses are running late.

“If the bus is late the school can do nothing,” Storo said. “That’s frustrating to me because it’s just one more loop. It’s a loose cog.”

Tostenrude said there had been problems on that particular route. He said that if a bus is late and Durham doesn’t notify the district, the district can fine them between $700 and $1,000.

Additionally, Tostenrude said the district is working on a notification system so parents can be notified if a bus is running late, much like the district’s mass notification system, Bright Arrow.

One of the biggest benefits to the new system, Tostenrude said, is that the district’s transportation costs are fully funded by state dollars. He said the district’s transportation budget is about $10 million, most of which goes to Durham. Last year the Office of Superintendent of Public Insturction allocated about $8.5 million to the Spokane Public Schools District for transportation.