Some parents may need a timeout on transportation

Transportation issues can bring out some pretty strong emotions —  especially when they involve elementary students who could potentially be spending an hour or more sitting on a bus twice daily as they go back and forth to school. And it’s not the children who are getting rowdy here, it’s their parents. At least in Pine Plains it is.

That was the scenario at the Pine Plains Board of Education meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 4, when the issue of reconfiguring the elementary schools came up for discussion. Dozens of parents crowded into the high school library to voice their complaints about the school board’s decision to move forward with plans to hold classes for kindergarten to grade two at Cold Spring Elementary School (located in Stanfordville) and classes for grades three to five at Seymour Smith Elementary School (in the heart of Pine Plains).

Although the decision was more than three years in the making, with plenty of publicity, including: public meetings, newspaper articles, “Superintendent’s Reflections� published on the Web site, flyers posted throughout the district, etc., numerous parents said they felt like they were left out of the loop. Really? It’s hard to try to imagine a more open process. If the ball was dropped here it was not on the Board of Education’s, nor on the superintendent’s, side.

Yet last week parents yelled and hollered at the board, and Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer, for their decisions. Their ire seemed to be based on the impression that they were left out of the decision-making process, and only being informed of the district’s intentions through a letter that was sent home last Monday, after the decision was made. The transportation issue was also a real sore point for many.

It’s understandable for parents not to want their children riding a school bus for two hours a day. It’s extreme, and undoubtedly very taxing for a youngster who should instead be studying, reading, exercising, playing, helping out at home, etc., with their time, rather than wasting it on the commute. It’s not that the parents’ concerns are not valid — it’s that the way in which they expressed those concerns that’s an issue here. And there was a time for that debate. In fact, there were many times for that debate during the past three years. Certainly the two presentations in December alone would have been good opportunities for such talks. But many of the parents who were up-in-arms last week didn’t make it to those forums. Now they’re insisting they were left out of the process.

Granted, there were some who stood up and tried to make educated, valid points last week, without acrimony, but their voices were all but lost in the sea of hateful invective. Unfortunately it was those with the mob mentality who won the night, most of whom only heard what they wanted to.

In fact, after the ugly public comment session was over, the parents swiftly took their leave, not staying for the remainder of the meeting. The move was premature, as the topic of reconfiguration was once again visited by the board later in the meeting. As is typical of this BOE, the discussion was thoughtful and sincere. Although it had clearly done its duty already, the school board decided to go above and beyond and schedule another community forum. The date for that will be confirmed at the next BOE meeting. First-class letters will be sent throughout the district to notify all residents of the meeting. The date for that meeting has been set for Wednesday, Feb. 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the Stissing Mountain Middle/High School auditorium. First-class letters will be sent throughout the district to notify all residents.  That should be sufficient. Let’s just hope at that meeting the parents will behave in a way that sets a better example for their children.