Clayton schools to buy more buses

Schools' schedules won't change

Clayton schools won't move to a three-tiered bus schedule after all.

County commissioners decided Thursday to give the school district money it lacked to buy buses.

After a split school board decision Tuesday to make Clayton buses run three routes instead of two, Johnston County commissioners heard an outcry from parents. Commissioners Chairwoman Cookie Pope said the flood of phone calls helped her and other commissioners realize the hardships that such a last-minute change would pose on young, working families.

"That pulls at your heartstrings," Pope said.

Pope and Fred Bartholomew, the school board chairman, worked out the agreement Thursday. If the district falls short of money later in the year, the county will reimburse the amount it spends to buy new school buses.

Parents expressed relief at the reversal. A three-tier bus schedule would have further staggered start and end times for elementary, middle and high schools, resulting in a 15- to 30-minute shift at most Clayton schools. Many parents said the time change would have been significant enough to challenge their morning commutes or force them to scramble to find day care.

"Three weeks before school is not a good time to drop a bomb like that on people trying to juggle two-plus kids," said Susanne Sullivan, a mother of three children at Riverwood Elementary and Middle schools.

Sullivan said she was happy that parents' voices had been heard. She is glad she can now arrange for her daughter to take a gymnastics class. She had been holding off making extracurricular plans for her children because of the uncertainty about school schedules.

To keep from going to a three-tiered bus schedule this year, the district needs to buy 14 more buses, said Deputy Superintendent Ed Croom. At about $70,000 a bus, that is about $987,000. The district gets its funding from commissioners.

But the school district hasn't ruled out moving to a three-tiered bus schedule in the future. Bartholomew said the district might consider it again -- especially in areas with heavy growth -- possibly next year.

"A lot of school systems use it," Bartholomew said. "The population is increasing so much."

Sullivan said she wouldn't necessarily oppose such a plan "if they give us more time" to prepare.

Susan Austin, a Clayton mother of two students, is hopeful county officials have learned a lesson.

"I hope they realize they can't make these snap decisions without considering the families."