Pine Bush parents complain of overcrowded school buses

By Laura Fitzgerald
Posted 11/20/18

Several parents have accused the Arthur F. Mulligan/Birnie Bus Company, which provides bussing for the Pine Bush School District, of allowing overcrowding on buses, either denying students seats or …

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Pine Bush parents complain of overcrowded school buses

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Several parents have accused the Arthur F. Mulligan/Birnie Bus Company, which provides bussing for the Pine Bush School District, of allowing overcrowding on buses, either denying students seats or not providing enough room for students to safely sit.

Mother of a Pine Bush student Jennifer Placco said students sat or stood in the aisle and in each other’s laps on the 66-passenger bus on her child’s bus route. Her child attends Crispell Middle School on bus route 122, a route that busses sixth through twelfth graders.

Her student was told the bus was too crowded, so she had to drive her son to school. As a working single parent, this is an inconvenience for her.

Students ride the bus crouching in the aisle.

Pine Bush Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Pacella and Pine Bush Superintendent Tim Mains both said they did not see students sitting in the aisle when he checked surveillance videos of the busses. However, students were forced to sit three to a seat, causing them to put their feet and hang their bodies over the aisle and crowd the bus.

Pacella said he did see students enter and leave the bus on one particular morning because the bus was too crowded.

Placco’s route received a 72-capaciy bus in response to complaints. However, this still hasn’t fully resolved the problem.

Placco said her son did not take the bus on Nov. 13, after the route was granted a larger bus, because there was no room for him to sit. She drove him and two other students who were also denied seats to school.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends three elementary students and two adult high school aged students to a seat in a typical 39-inch school bus seat. The school bus manufacturers determine the maximum capacity for a school bus.

School bus seats are designed to envelope a student so they are protected without the use of a seat belt. If a crash where to occur, the student would be protected by the seat back in front of them. If any part of the student is outside the seat, the student wouldn’t be fully protected, according to the NHTSA guidelines.

Placco said past sixth grade, three children to a seat is unrealistic, especially when children bring instruments and sports equipment on the bus. Pacella said students shouldn’t be bringing equipment on the bus, or, if they have to, they should stow the equipment underneath the seat in front of them.