A coalition of concerned citizens plans legal action to halt cuts in school bus service and the implementation of pay-to-play fees in the school year that begins Monday in Harford County Public Schools.
The system-wide cutbacks in school bus transportation and the new fees for students to participate in extra-curricular activities were approved by the Harford County Board of Education in June as a budget-balancing move for the fiscal year 2014 that began on July 1, 2013.
Edgewood Community Council President Jansen Robinson said on Friday that he is among the leaders in a group of more than 300 parents who believe the transportation cuts will be harmful to children. He said that the coalition leadership has contacted an attorney with plans to file for an injunction to halt the cuts. A meeting of interested citizens is planned for Tuesday that Robinson said will include the attorney and an outline of next steps. Additional meeting details appear below.
Regarding the pay-to-play fees, which were set by the School Board at $50 per sport and $25 per extra-curricular activity, Robinson said that he has also contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to determine if the fees violate Maryland’s constitutional provision for a free and adequate public education. He said that other Maryland public school systems charge the fees, but their constitutionality had not previously been challenged.
The Maryland ACLU did not immediately respond to a request for comment, however, the ACLU has successfully challenged student fees in other states, including California and Indiana.
Below is the Tuesday meeting announcement:
ATTENTION PARENTS, TAXPAYERS, CONCERNED CITIZENS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED BY THE HARFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION’S TRANSPORTATION POLICY
WHAT: SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION “ACTION” MEETING
WHEN: TUESDAY AUGUST 27, 2013
TIME: 6:30 PM
WHERE: HARFORD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE/SOUTHERN PRECINCT
1305 PULASKI HIGHWAY, EDGEWOOD MARYLAND 21040PURPOSE: TO IDENTIFY HARFUL EFFECTS THIS POLICY WILL HAVE ON CHILDREN, AND OUTLINE OUR NEXT STEPS.
PLEASE DOCUMENT ANY/ALL HARMFUL EFFECTS THAT YOU BELIEVE OUR CHILDREN WILL SUFFER AND BRING THEM TO THE MEETING WITH YOU. WE WILL NOT WASTE ANY MORE TIME DEBATING THIS MATTER.
Where was Mr. Robinson when the school board was warning of potentially drastic cuts and changes to services?
How does a citizen predict the cuts (to previously promised services) the school board would decide to make? Midnight Shift, make a list of the next programs and services that are in danger of being cut by the school board so we can start protesting before they announce them.
Citizens can make predictions by paying attention to what is happening in the school system. It’s not that hard to do. I think the BOE has been saying for quite some time that changes (some significant) were coming. But here is a short list of a few potentials. Raise fees charged for use of school buildings by outside groups. Unfortunately, this could lead to the disbanding of certain groups or organizations. Raise entry fees for sporting events. Have teams play games right after school to save the cost of electricity for stadium lights. Shorten the season of all teams and only play in county teams. Raise the cost of breakfast and lunch or offering fewer selections. Elimination or reduction of some specials (art, band, chorus, phys ed, etc.). Possible closing of one – three schools buildings. Elimination of some magnet programs. Further cuts to teaching positions and elimination of some course offerings with a corresponding increase in class sizes. I am sure I can think of others but that was just some of the more obvious ones.
It’s too bad citizens can’t work together with the school board where money-saving changes are concerned. Some of the potential cuts you predict are very reasonable. Even though HCPS is in no position to make investments that will save money over the long run, I’ll suggest: having a fleet of smaller vehicles (15 passenger vans or small buses) to transport small groups of students such as special needs students, magnet students, small sports teams, and students transported from longer distances.
Looking at the budget changes, why is there an increase of $200,000 for fuel for special needs buses? That’s an INCREASE over and above what it was in last year’s budget! Do we have that many more special needs students this year? This is really questionable since all the fuel needed for all the magnet buses for the entire year is $115,000.
Also, the BOE has a budget that has increased over the last 3 years: https://www.hcps.org/boe/budget/content/fy14/proposed/fy14BoardofEducation.pdf
Do Harford County tax-payers pay this?
Midnight Shift, while I understand the point of inactive participation in legislation, this was not the case here. There are numerous outlets to which the parents of Harford County could have respectfully been made aware that bus routes were on the chopping block. I respectfully keep hearing from officials that “we told you” but that unfortunately is not he case. The decision to cut bus routes was announced to parents of Haford County a little over a month ago, in short timing for school start.
Here is where I have an issue, I am very active in my community and provide a newsletter to residents of Edgewood Monthly, in addition to several other outlets (to include Dagger, Patch, etc). I’ve seen post by board members on here so its not like they didn’t know the address. Cindy Mumby (Dagger) did a great job of getting it out to us and that’s where the windfall started. Any elected body can say they are going to make drastic cuts, but to make a statement like that, and then drop the specifics only a month before school starts is respectfully unfair. An example if you will, Maryland Taxation board announces they are looking at possible increases in property taxes, then all of a sudden announces those changes (specifically) a month before you get your June/July property tax assessment. That honestly is not due diligence.
One of the best forms of technology I love, when not spam during political season, is the Robocall. I get a great message from “Ms Terri Krainfeld’ at HCPS whenever there is a news update or information. Not to mention great timely information from the Harford County emergency manager whenever there is threat of floods, lightning, etc. Great tools. Why could a robocall not have gone out “earlier” in the spring if indeed this decision was made prior to public release a month ago (approx). I promise you that school board would have been flooded if in February/March parents got a robocall saying bus routes would “possibly” be affected. It would be in the best interest of the school board to do so rather than going down to the wire and lobbing a bouncing betting into family planning for getting to school.
As one board official recently noted it is not the duty of the school board to raise your kids..100% agree and Amen…thats a whole other conversation (in the affirmative for further problems in expectations/pressure on teachers today). But when you tell me that its not he responsibility of HCPS to provide transportation for you kids…i need to pull that Air Brake and J-Brake on this rig. If I pay taxes to the county, and in such property taxes is included the transportation of kids, then I do expect some reasonable accommodation of that provision by way of a communal pay (yearly taxes). Now if there is a change to said provision, which is not an entitlement but a fee for service (taxes), then i also respectfully ask for a heads of change to that agreement. Which also should include a modification of my fee for service…i.e. tax rebate! (wishful thinking I know).
Additionally if the announcement was timely and provided due diligence, how come the contracting company that provides the buses didn’t even know about it in enough time. These are all honest questions which every parent has the right to ask.
I’m sure we can all say back in the day “we hiked 10 miles to school”, but back in the day was also many moral generations ago where we didn’t have kids killing joggers for fun, boundaries being put in danger for child sex offenders, and also the discussion of make sure residents (homeowners) shovel walkways as kids will most likely be moving along more Public Transportation Routes (PTRs).
I have no dog in this fight here because luckily my wife has always dropped and picked up our son from school, but I do find it hard to believe that we can’t find 896K somewhere here. I’m all about finding the solutions here, but leave the kids out of it! Just saying.
Humble opinion, not the first or the last.
The bus route decision was announced on the dagger about 2.5 months ago!!!!!!
That doesn’t make it right, nor the right thing to do to “reduce costs.”
@Cdev, Dagger published July 19th…37 Days ago. The decision came from the June proceedings of the Board of Education meeting. Now follow me here and let me know if you honestly think due diligence was provided here. The decision came down June 10th with an effective date of Aug 26th. There was no immediate public announcement provided to parents. That’s like telling everyone to start driving on the left hand side of the road starting in end of September.
http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/07/19/harford-county-public-schools-announces-transportation-changes-for-2013-14-school-year/
On 29 July parents did show up (after news hit the street), to a maximum capacity at that, to voice their concerns so to say parents were involved is an understatement.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/belair/ph-ag-school-board-0731-20130729,0,3094900.story
Pay to play, I get it, this is something going on in districts across the country and not really an issue for me. However I think there is a disproportionate impact when you go to the heart of what is a public safety risk vs savings. Two sides are loading muskets and trading ball, but at the end of the day is this the best way you can get savings here.
The bus service changes where announced on June 11th. Here is the dagger article
http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/06/11/harford-county-board-of-education-approves-fy14-budget-reconciliation-following-20-2-million-shortfall/
BTW at this point any attempt to stop these will meet with more cuts somewhere else. The schools don’t have the money!!!!!!! If you don’t want future cuts like more walking in schools, consolidated elementary stops, more elementary walkers, fees for buses to Harford Glenn, No field trips, No sports, No Magnet programs you need to be advocating for more funding!!!!
How about a fee for transportation? Some school districts do this too!
Many parents of magnet students wouldn’t mind the option to pay a fee so the students could ride a bus to within walking distance to their home.
As always you are totally wrong. Consolidations of bus stops were announced, which means keeping in walking distance. Bus depot stops is a new created stop for magnet students. Btw, ALL waivers and exemptions of 1 or 1.5 miles from schools were removed according to the public press release, so why are those kids still picked up? Guess, they have no clue what they are doing, headless completely!
Excellent point Midnight Shift. Reactivity instead of proactivity of the populace has had an overall adverse effect on society as a whole. But, I guess better late than never may be helpful. Mr. Robinson is heavily involved in his community and no matter how that’s sliced it’s a good thing.
It’s really ashame that it has come down to this. The citizens of a municipality should have Government working to better society, not against it.
VOTE NO TO DAVID CRAIG AS GOVERNOR!
How about these guys ask the public what cuts we want to see. Personally, I’d like to see cuts to County-wide school administration and groundskeeping. The admin can simply go, the groundskeeping can go to non-violent offenders so they can obtain some skills, give something back to the community that they screwed in some way and reduce our overall costs! Why not put it all on the table???
yes because we all want criminals hanging around school children!!!!
They certainly could have cleaned up the facilities all summer long…didn’t see too many kiddies running around for the past 2 months. Also observed some of the most inefficient painters and “groundskeepers” I’ve ever seen that cost us all a fortune – problem solved with the above reco. They could have been cooped back up by this past Friday and nobody would’ve even seen them. Weeding, edging, painting, scraping paint, painting around the exteriors, buildings, walkways and sporting fields…could have saved us all a bundle.
That sounds reasonable but that would be a drop in the bucket. Not saying don’t do it but it is not going to replace the money from buses
“a drop in the bucket?” You mean like the bogus changed bus routes?
When a bus continues to go and stops 4 times instead of 20 that saves time and gas. Yes a drop in the bucket over 180 days. When a school needs 4 less buses because it has walkers that saves money. No one said this saved 20 million dollars but it helped combined with no employee pay increases and pay to play!
Don’t be fooled CDEV – once again, another cost that was covered by bus service is being pushed onto taxpaying parents. Many will have to drive their kids some distance if not all the way to schools due to the distances. In my area some have more than 1/2 mile to walk without sidewalks or lights to get to the designated stop. That’s fine while the weather is good and the sun is up, but think about those dark rainy days in the fall, winter and early spring. The “unintended consequence” will be many more gallons burned by parents, more cars on the roads in neighborhoods and arteries leading to schools to/fro each day. So what have they really solved? Well – they’ve screwed a good number of taxpayers once again – nice job!
simple charge a fee of $150 a semester for neighborhood and $200 for magnet schools like Jeefco Schools in Colorodo.
I think that all Harford County parents should go to this, as the cuts are effecting everyone. My child and two other children had their bus pass them, go down a street where they have been picked up from for years and told that he would get them “on the way back”. Now they are standing on a corner of a very busy street with no sidewalk or street light waiting for a bus to come back and get them. I dropped my other daughter off at her depot this morning with still no direction for her after school other then I told her to go into the high school and tell the office staff that she is a magnet student and call me and let me know where she will be in the school. This was not thought out at all. I cannot believe that our children are being placed in this much danger to save a few bucks.
Michelle, I can not disagree with you.
It’s amazing how these wealthy politicans can support their families, but can’t support the voters who vote for them.
VOTE NO TO DAVID CRAIG AS GOVERNOR
Vote or Burbey, who ever you are!!!. Michelle is right and it is the BOE that is the problem in this mess. I don’t agree with everything Mr. Craig has done, but he is not the problem here. The management of the school system is run away and there is no way under the current system to control them. There was no planning in cutting the buses or pay to play by the BOE, so did we expect them to be ready on 8/26 to make it go. Mrs. Urbanski I’m sorry that our children are all the pawns in this game. I have to share that my child came home today to hear from her teacher that the budget was cut and the teacher doesn’t have the supplies for the year. Can they just get an education and be kept out of this mess!!
As with anything new or changed it may take a bit of time to work out the kinks.
You will get nowhere with a lawsuit. That just eats up time and money. No, constant pressure and harassment is how you get the change you want. Crowd the school board meeting every month and keep them there until midnight with a barage of speakers month after month after month. Organize loud protests in front of the HCPS headquarters at least weekly. Flood their emails. When you see them in public, communicate your displeasure. You need to make things very uncomfortable for them. Until they personally feel the hurt that they have inflicted on you, they will continue to go about their business as usual.
Yes and do the same for the funding authority……AKA the County Council.
Direct your displeasure at the source. The State’s contribution to the School budget was cut by Martin O because the “formula” says Harford is one of the richest in the state and therefore can best handle the cuts. The austerity coming next year will be even greater.
The state puts more money into HCPS than the county does!!!!!
Would that be the same state that announced recently record revenue increases from gambling as a result of the new gambling legislation that they rammed down our throat and marketed as “for the education of our children”? Is that the state you are talking about? The legislation that was touted by every teacher union and every education industry group?
Well, I guess it wasn’t for our children but they neglected to mention that. Hypocrites. If anyone wants to stir up a fuss then the place to start would be in Annapolis. Followed closely by the people at BOE and HCPS who decide how to spend the budget that was approved. I’m sorry they didn’t get every dime they asked for. Most toddlers don’t get what they want, even when they throw a public tantrum.
I find it both negligent & irresponsible that I am supposed to send my children out in dark to walk 1/2 mile on a street with no curbs, gutters, sidewalks, storm water management or lights to a bus stop that also does not have any of these conveniences to stand on the corner of a busy intersection on someone’s front lawn. I consider my children to be on the school board’s shift once they put a foot out of my driveway. My neighbor’s children have to walk 1.6 miles (the rulle is 1.5 miles) in the same conditions to the school. The school transportation department is a total waste & as usual, will be no help at all. I will definitely be at this meeting.
Blame someone else, huh? As a parent, you should make it a point to be with them if it concerns you, as in, drive your kids to the bus stop, or to and from school.
Harford county is not a personalized daycare for you.
That’s right nimby, When our kid was in elementary and middle school, we drove home him to bus stop and waited till the bus came. We live at the end of dead end road and didn’t want him to walk about 3/4 of a mile up to stop. IT’s a good time to “Talk” to your kid about stuff. But then again, we are the type of parents that prefer to raise our kids ourselves..
I’m sure that you are a saint; however, since you don’t know us, you have no idea what we did when our children were in elementary school. I’m sure that you would love for your children to walk in the same conditions that mine have to walk in.
I’m not blaming anyone. Did it ever occur to you that we have to be at work prior to the kids being allowed in the school??? Of course it didn’t, it’s easier to insult people you don’t even know.
Kids come first then work. Figure out a way to make it happen or don’t have kids, Lolz
You aren’t the only one who had to be working before school starts.
true, Parents sure can find a way to get their kids to rec sport practices….
Curbs, gutters and storm water management have to deal with what exactly in your post?
You may as well listed that there aren’t any runways for airplanes either.
You don’t spend much time as a pedestrian, LOL. And your little kids don’t have to walk along a road in the grass. Curbs separate the street from the grass the kids are walking on, helping to protect them from passing cars. Gutters and storm water drains manage rain so the kids aren’t walking in puddles, or worse yet, trying to walk around puddles.
None of those either, but if they can’t send a bus, I doubt they’ll be sending an airplane.
LOL, if you can’t figure out what it has to do with my post, then perhaps a little remedial reading comprehension is in order.
” I consider my children to be on the school board’s shift once they put a foot out of my driveway. ”
And THAT is what is wrong with too many Parents today and subsequently, the children who learn their attitudes from those parents! Wow!
You don’t get it do you. Kharn, feel free to buy them & put them on the front steps of all of the children on my street. William & Liberty Lover, you know nothing about me or my family. My children are my first priority and that is why I’m concerned. I’m not only concerned about my children, but also the other children in this situation. If you notice, I don’t hide behind some “handle”, but use my own name. It’s very easy to be judgmental & rude when you’re not using your own name.
Ohhh, wow. You use real name? What exactly does that do, we are on the internet. How does that.make your comments better?
Ahhh, the ol’ “I’m using my real name and youre not” reply. Lolz
LOL
Walmart sells reflective vests and flashlights.
Please let it Sheriff Banes know as the county has to buy some for the three new crossing guards they want to hire keeping the kids which have to walk to school now. I wonder when they start to offer some safety for kids in the northern part of the county. Maybe we get some crossing guards, too?
Your children are on your shift, mommy – 24/7. That’s why you teach them to be prepared for the times they are out of your eyesight.
You are a loser–your kids are on the school board’s shift when they leave your driveway? Where was sterilization when you were conceiving? No wonder so many kids are screwed up–look at parenting beliefs like that!
The 1.5 mile rule is based on a straight line from the school and does not take into account the zigzags of sidewalks, topography, or other barriers.
HCPS trying to save money on bus service…hmmm, then why every weekday morning as I am driving down 95 is there a HCPS bus driving next to me at least to the White Marsh exit where I get off? the bus looks empty so I’m assuming it is going to pick someone up???
Every weekday morning?
Susan you do realize today is the first day back to school right…..
yes, every day last school year and every day for at least the past 7 years…I am driving down 95 between 7 & 7:30 so I don’t think it is just a matter of a bus driver being finished with the morning runs and taking the bus home until the afternoon runs
They cut that run out this year. Any other questions?
Bill H. how do you know that for sure?
Yes. Some kids are driven year round to school outsise the county. Two buses are driving down from the northern county on 146 onto the beltway each workday for the last coupme of years.
Homeless and displaced students are legally entitled to transportation to their “school of origin” (ie, the last school they attended before being displaced) regardless of their current living situation. Even if the student never gets on the bus, the bus must go to their last known residence and wait the prescribed number of minutes to see if the student appears. If someone is evicted and they move to Baltimore County, HCPS and BCPS must split the cost of transporting the student back to Harford so they can attend their school.
Now for some reason, HCPS uses buses for this duty, even when traveling 20+ miles to pick up a single student. A Dodge Caravan has to be much cheaper to operate than a full-size school bus, and I’m sure someone could paint them yellow.
The buses for those are contracted. We would need to hire a driver.
Or just tell the bus companies that bid on the work that X van trips are required each school day in addition to Y bus trips.
Could be a bus for a non-public placement.
What’s next? People demanding take home dinners given to their kids at the end of the day?
I will be at that meeting. I am getting the word out about it on social media as well. To say that I am upset with the pay for play/activity fees and this new bus schedule is an understatement!
“I consider my children to be on the school board’s shift once they put a foot out of my driveway”
Wow.
So don’t we have a partially elected school board now? If so, and you don’t like pay-to-play, then publish the board members names, voting records and cast a vote to throw them out or keep them in. As for the appointed school board members….well thank O’Malley for having no say about these “public servants”.
The budget passed 6-3 . The Board members who voted against the budget were Frisch, Kesrtsnavy and Grambo . Somewhat of a pattern.
And it was Frisch who motioned for pay-to-play. They are all equally incompetent and either unwilling or incapable of serving in the best interests of the county’s students. And that goes for Craig, the County Council and Burbey too. If this crowd is incapable of working together and playing nice then they all need to be expelled. Challenging economic times require a cooperative effort. All I see is rancor and finger pointing. I think we all can agree that solves nothing…so as long as these bozos are around the problems will only escalate. East Ramapo, here we come.
I watched the video again and it was Mr. Thornton who made the motion and seconded by Mr. Fitzpatrick. Eight out of nine voted for it. These aren’t stupid people serving on the school board. I think budget constraints forced them into making some very tough decisions.
I was at the meeting when these changes were proposed. The Board was looking at cutting 100 teacher positions and these moves saved 20 of them.
None of us like having more money or services taken away from us but I think saving 20 teacher’s jobs impact the children’s education more than Pay for Play fees and transportation changes.
I am no expert on this topic but it really sounded like the School Board had very little uncommited money to work with. The State reduced their funding and the percentage of County funding has dropped over the past several years. Perhaps pressuring the County Council to allocate more money to the schools would help.
Remember, schools are about putting knowledge in kid’s heads, not points on the scoreboard.
Today’s report from a Tier 4 School. Several buses arrived 15 minutes after the official start time and then were a half-hour late following dismissal. Way to go Reynolds, Grambo and the rest. Is this what you consider a success?
My daughter’s bus finally arrived at 5:02 pm. Quite a contrast from last year’s (3rd tier) 4:00 pm arrival home. Can’t even imagine what tomorrow will be like when they add kindergarten to the mix! And for all the robocalls delivered throughout the year, I was surprised NOT to receive some sort of explanation call today. Probably because there is no explanation…I’ve always been a proponent of public schools, but my patience is wearing thin.
First, the anger aimed at the Board is misguided! They cut dozens of jobs in order to prevent any higher fees. The anger should be with DAVID CRAIG, his quest for Annapolis has him ignoring his responsibility towards our students and schools. Funding is pathetic in comparison to other districts.
Thanks, think logically. By the way, how is your son Ryan Burbey doing these days?
you are a moron! I am in no way relation to Ryan nor a member of the union. In fact I am against any union.
Really? Most of these parents will shell out hundreds for Rec sports and iPhones for their kids but 50 bucks for high school football is crossing the line? Your 50 bucks doesn’t pay for the uniform, the coach, or even the electricity for the lights! And the bus stop complaints are weak… 1/2 mile walk for a generation of overweight kids…
As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a young lady standing on the corner of Williams and another street only a block from the District Court. She appeared to be waiting for a school bus. And if you look at a map you will see the District Court is about 2000 feet from the High School and about 3000 feet from the Middle School. I’m sure there are folks all aghast at the thought of their kids crossing the street in downtown Bel Air, but is it really necessary to have the kid there on the corner at about 6am to climb on board a bus that is going to drive all over town to pick up other kids – just so they can be bussed to school? Is it really that much more safe than walking through that area of town? Exactly how much diesel fuel is being burned to convey her the distance to the Middle School?
My guess would be that the young lady in question was waiting for a bus to Harford Tech rather than the local school. HTHS students do not have depot stops like the magnet school students. Those students will still be seen at the usual neighborhood stops.
THIS EXPLAINS THE COMMENTERS on this article:
On the about page for the aegis, this is printed:
What they’re saying about The Dagger…
“Some of their junkies are in the police department and the school system and the council. They also have people embedded in those places, and some of them write under other names…They love to write and to be read and for some of these people, it’s their only chance to ever do that.” – former Aberdeen Mayor S. Fred Simmons
Wait until they build the new shrine to Gov Kraig in Havre de Grace. If we can’t afford the teachers now how are we going to pay for a new school that’s not needed?
Ridership on magnet buses was way down this morning as compared to yesterday. Are families deciding it’s just less of a problem to drive all the way to the magnet school?
AS a lifelong Harford county resident, and someone who did ride a bus to school. there were entirely too many stops added to all levels of schools. yes, in high school we would have students walking upwards of a 1/4 mile to meet at a central point to catch the bus. Bad weather?? that’s what we were given new coats, hats, umbrella’s and boots for. the distance did get shorter for the younger kids, but we still had from a several block radius meet at a central bus pickup. There was no sit in Mom’s minivan waiting on the bus. Toughen up kids. it’s a hard world. Go back a bit further, want to ride the bus.. that will cost you. there was no free ride. Mom and Dad were free to take you to school, it was their choice. The free ride should be over.
and for those that make the remark that ” it’s dark when they head to the bus pick up..” allow me to clue you in on this new piece of technology called a flashlight. sold at most stores. and yes, I was given one during winter to have in book-bag in case I needed it…
Here is a fun game. Turn on the gps on the smartphone of your kid and track the bus route he/she is taking. It is amazingly funny. You won’t believe! They sure learn their neighborhood taking the long road.