最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The first day of school always brings mixed emotions, but this year is especially fraught with uncertainty for 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools.

The past month has been tumultuous for the 19,000-student district, starting with the July 25 departure of Superintendent Keisha Scarlett after just one year on the job. The school board placed Scarlett on leave pending an investigation into spending practices, including millions of dollars in salaries and contracts for at least 20 people with ties to her previous employer, Seattle Public Schools.

The traditional first day of school for SLPS superintendents includes a tour of the district with media stops along the way. The itinerary for acting Superintendent Millicent Borishade had not been released as of Saturday.

Meanwhile, district leaders have been scrambling to cover student transportation after the primary bus vendor canceled its contract with the district. A mix of buses, taxis and shuttles plus Metro city buses are expected to deliver students to school on Monday.

Underscoring the chaos of the patchwork plan, more than 1,000 students will no longer have transportation after three vendors failed to deliver on their promise of buses, according to a press release from SLPS late Saturday.

Robin Lovings Brown said it feels like families are the children of a divorce between SLPS and Missouri Central bus company 鈥� caught in the middle, tossed around and insecure.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot and this is stressful,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too close to school starting and some parents are still trying to figure out what they鈥檙e going to do.鈥�

Lovings Brown has a 5-year-old taking a bus to Stix Elementary, an 11-year-old taking a cab to Busch Middle and a teenager taking a bus to Collegiate high school. She鈥檚 most comfortable with the cab service, because it was reliable for the family last year when their housing was unstable.

She鈥檚 especially worried about her daughter making it to Collegiate every day. The transportation challenges have contributed to the district鈥檚 high rate of chronic absenteeism.

鈥淪he鈥檚 at the No. 2 high school in the state, so academically her attendance matters a lot,鈥� she said.

First Student school bus company will return to SLPS as a contractor after being dropped in 2022 for poor performance. The company will deploy about 100 buses, down from 225 in previous years.

鈥淚鈥檓 cautiously optimistic about the buses. We鈥檝e had multiple years of buses not being 100% reliable,鈥� said Jennifer Elam, whose sons will ride separate buses to Mason and Mallinckrodt elementary schools. 鈥淭here are a lot of eyes on the situation this year, so we鈥檙e hoping First Student is able to rise to the challenge.鈥�

Other parents said they weren鈥檛 comfortable with their children riding on Metro city buses to high school, where classes start at 7:15 a.m. Students who live near main bus routes along Jefferson Avenue and Kingshighway and Grand boulevards were given bus passes for the year.

Greg Perine鈥檚 daughter is a sophomore at Metro High School in the Central West End. She would have to leave home before 6 a.m. to catch a Metro bus on south Grand, ride an estimated 43 minutes to Grand and Lindell Boulevard, then walk 15 minutes to the school.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not going to happen,鈥� Perine said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a 15-year-old girl and she鈥檚 fairly small. I just don鈥檛 trust her being alone by herself out in the city at the moment.鈥�

Without knowing how many students will find alternatives, Metro Transit is preparing for an influx of as many as 1,600 high school students in 鈥渁 very fluid situation in the first few weeks of the school year,鈥� according to a press release.

The school district and Bi-State Development were still 鈥渢weaking鈥� the terms of an agreement Friday about security and capacity, according to Bi-State spokeswoman Patti Beck.

鈥淲e have asked SLPS to partner with us and deploy their School Resource Officers to assist at bus stops where larger groups of students may be gathering to access Metro Transit buses,鈥� said Kevin Scott, general manager of security for Bi-State Development, in a statement.

最新杏吧原创 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones Thursday asking employers to be flexible with the changes to school transportation.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e an employer of a parent with school-aged children, I鈥檓 asking you to give them some grace as they figure out a new routine for their children,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭hese are trying times for 最新杏吧原创 families, but if we all work together we can get this school year off to a great start and help our babies get what they need to set them up for success.鈥�