Getting busted for tardiness

Starting at 6 a.m., Newport-Mesa Unified school buses drive 70 routes carrying about 5,000 kids — from 22 elementary schools, two middle schools and seven high schools — to school.

“It is a logistical challenge,” said Pete Meslin, the district’s director of transportation. “There are a lot of students being moved safely and efficiently from home to school and school to home.”

When that efficiency is tested, every stop on a particular route is affected for the rest of the morning.

The campus most affected is TeWinkle Middle School, the buses’ last stop and largest customer — relying on 14 buses to carry about 700 students to school every school day.

During the first month of school, many buses ran late.

Parents, many of whom schedule their children to arrive at school 20 minutes before classes start, have complained.

“If the buses don’t come on time the students start wandering around the stop unsupervised,” said TeWinkle PTA President Vicki Snell.

After fielding calls from parents, TeWinkle principal Kirk Bauermeister was seen at a particular bus stop parents had complained about. Bauermeister was helping children just in case the bus ran late; it didn’t.

There are a few twists in dealing with TeWinkle that the district has had to deal with this year.

The biggest adjustment, according to Meslin and Bauermeister, is TeWinkle’s new 8:45 a.m. start, an hour later than most schools.

Behavioral problems, traffic and inaccurate directions to special-education children’s homes have caused delays, Meslin said.

Also on the administration’s radar are kids who are chronically late, by choice. If a child is at a stop after the bus has already come by, a second bus will be sent to him or her.

Other times, as Bauermeister said he witnessed two weeks ago, students already at school wait for a bus to arrive just before the bell. They walk in with the arriving students and then blame the tardiness on the bus.

There has been only one late bus since Sept. 28, Bauermeister said. That was the first day the school began logging arrival and departure times for every single bus at TeWinkle.

“I believe what we’re doing is adapting to change. I don’t see any kinks left. I see them all worked out as of last week,” Meslin said. “I think it’s an issue of change rather than an issue of service.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].