Garwood Busing Issues Addressed by Administrators

The Garwood School District moved from three buses to two buses this year to transport borough students to Arthur L. Johnson High School, a change that upset some parents who say there is no longer enough room for all the students. 

"We have students sitting on floors and standing up. One parent called the police to stop the driver," a parent wrote Patch.

A handful of parents aired their concerns at the Board of Education's last meeting and administrators promised to address the issue. 

Garwood Superintendent Dr. Teresa Quigley told Patch that the district went to two buses because numbers have been down and that there is more than enough room for all the students, though they now need to share seats. 

Reducing the number of buses also provided a significant cost-savings of $38,000.

Quigley says the change was exacerbated by a bus driver who was not enforcing the rules and "simply yelling at the kids to sit down." 

Parents at that meeting also voiced concerns about changes in bus stops and the not-so-nice driver on the Southside, who they say left early and did not wait for students on the first days of school. 

Quigley says after discussions with the transportation coordinator all of these issues have been addressed and resolved and she hasn't heard further complaints from parents.