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Lumberton Primary School
Lumberton Primary School
At the start of the new school year, Lumberton ISD experienced some major issues with bus routes and school traffic. Aug. 7, the district announced 47 student bus-riders were left at the Lumberton Intermediate School and parents weren’t notified because the technology department purged the bus riders’ phone numbers from the alert notification system. Also, three bus drivers also called in sick the same day.
“They were not left behind. There were some employees there and they were second-round pickup kids,” explained Transportation Director Josh Bennett. “One bus went to drop off the first round of kids before picking up the second round-up. No kid’s going to be left behind.”
On the first day of school, parents lined up along the shoulders of U.S. 96 and 60 to get on campus to either drop off or pick up their children from their respective schools. There were reported waiting times of up to an hour at some campuses. Bennett presented the board with some encouraging information concerning an increase in bus ridership at the Aug. 10 school board meeting, which increased on both morning and afternoon routes.
“We tried to institute, where feasible, door-to-door stops in our afternoon routes and that has cut down on time,” he said. “I am very encouraged and we have gained time each day.”
“The schools and the principals have done a tremendous job of alleviating traffic and that’s where we have gained a majority of our time,” he added.
Superintendent Dr. Tony Tipton noted that 1,000 cars go through the intermediate school campus in an hour during the morning, and between 600-700 cars roll through in the afternoon.
“It’s an unbelievable amount of cars in a short amount of time,” Tipton said, prior to conversation that also noted traffic issues, such as no red light on U.S. 96, alternating lane closures at major intersections, and miscommunication between the district transportation department and parents.
“We want to update to let everyone know what’s going on and keep everyone in the loop,” Bennett said of a desire to be as transparent as possible. “Whether it’s good or bad, I want you to know the facts. I’m not about making excuses. I’m not going to stop until we get solutions and can provide LISD with the transportation department they deserve.’
Bennett said his department was unaware the messages were not getting out to parents and that was an issue with the REACH system.
“The messages are getting out now and we’re receiving a lot of good feedback,” he added. The district reported approximately 800 parents have signed back up for the transportation reminder alert. LISD is striving for 100% of parents whose children ride school buses to sign up.
Bennett, who has four children, said he doesn’t want to go home knowing a student didn’t get picked up to go home.
“We want to get the children as close to the door as we can,” he said. “There are some subdivisions where we are not able to go always down the street because the bus can not turn around. So we drop them off at the mouth of the street. We try to get them within eye view of their homes so the parents can see them getting on and off the bus.”
According to Bennett, his department was still adding students to the system last week.
“Hopefully, we have a more set schedule,” he said.
Trustee Kevin Edwards said that, at one time in the district, there was about 40% ridership on buses, which has dwindled to between 12% and 20%.
Bus drivers get raise
Aug. 14, Lumberton ISD trustees approved a plan submitted by the administration to significantly increase the compensation package for bus drivers. The compensation package also includes hefty stipends to incentivize existing internal employees to acquire their CDL or compensate those with a CDL to drive a daily route.
Bus driver pay will increase by $3 per hour across the board. The change raises the minimum, midpoint and maximum pay for drivers by $3 per hour. It brings LISD within the pay range of all state and Region 5 schools of its enrollment. Also, bus drivers will be offered an opportunity to earn an extra $1,000 per month for perfect attendance.
Lumberton ISD will offer up to a $20,000 stipend for existing employees to drive a route. In addition to the stipend, each existing employee who drives a route will be paid the hourly bus driver rate.
The money to fund the compensation increase will come from new funding the district is due to receive from the Texas Education Agency as part of the recent legislative session.