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At Hammond, No Throng Of Vehicles Dropping Off Kids

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Mar 21, 2008 at 12:51 PM

It was a few minutes before 7 a.m., Hammond Elementary School Principal Karen Zielinski, or Ms. Z, as her staff calls her, had been here since 6. A crew of office help, including secretaries and some volunteers, was here to greet parents and students and to keep the traffic flowing.

She said about 200 of the 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade have called in saying they will not be attending class. That’s enough to offset the flow of parents driving kids to school, but, the principal says, ”We don’t know what to expect.” By 7 a.m., two students had arrived.

Ken and Martha Wagenbrenner pulled up in their sport utility vehicle and dropped off their two children, Arianna, 8 and Jason, 11. The family alternates between driving their children to school and letting them take the school bus, they said.

“We live so close and we’re self-employed,” Martha says. “It’s no big deal.”

Classes began at 8 a.m., but at 7:50 a.m. a couple of cars pulled up on the sidewalk between the school and North Mobley Road. That’s not allowed, and Assistant Principal Sheri Norkas walks that way to tell the drivers to pull into the driveway.

She says preparation is the key today.

“The office staff laid all this out yesterday,” she says, pointing to the cones directing drivers around the lot.

But the throng of vehicles wasn’t as large as expected, she says. The surge in drop-offs was offset by the number of absent students, she says.

At the end of the day, a similar drill is planned, she says, when parents arrive to pick up their children.

Office staff will be here late, possibly until 6 p.m., Norkas says.

“Or until all the kids are gone,” she says, “whichever comes first.”

Among the school workers who had scheduled a Good Friday off was Karen Carter, who teaches physical education at Hammond Elementary School. It wasn’t for religious reasons or because she had planned an Easter weekend getaway.

It was because the day-care center that keeps two of her three children was closed.

Yet, she showed up to volunteer at her school early this morning.

She opened a gate to a parking lot reserved for school employees and was waiting for two special-needs buses. She also was going to help out taking attendance, but after that, she’s heading home.

She has one child enrolled as a second-grader at Hammond and two others, a 4-year-old and a 19-month-old she will be caring for at home today.

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Quarter Of Cypress Creek Students Show Up

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by Lois Kindle

Updated Mar 21, 2008 at 11:10 AM

At Cypress Creek Elementary, which had no bus service today, 262 out of the school’s 1,056 students showed up. Officials there said there were no surprises—all the teachers who said they were going to come to school did.

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Slow Start To Day At Progress Village, Symmes

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by Susan M. Green

Updated Mar 21, 2008 at 11:11 AM

There were unusually short drop-off lines at Progress Village Middle School and Symmes Elementary, in north Riverview. Progress Village had a sign posted at the drop-off line warning people the buses will be late this afternoon.

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Bryant Rewards Bus Drivers With Care Packages

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated Mar 21, 2008 at 09:03 AM

A dozen brown paper bags holding breakfast pastries and cans of Coke in Mary Bryant cozies lined up at the front desk at Bryant Elementary.

Principal Karen Bass and art teacher Chan Bliss greeted bus drivers who rolled up to the northwestern Hillsborough school at 7:30 a.m. with the care packages. Bryant had nine of its 10 buses today; one did a double-run to make up the difference.

“I cannot tell you how much we appreciate that you showed up today,” Bass told driver Rigoberto Vega, who said it never occurred to him to call off from work.

Andrea Hydes, a driver for six years, had taken personal days recently for family medical problems and needed to work. She also wanted to see how the day would go. She noticed fewer elementary students but a big drop on her high school route. She had five students on her bus instead of the usual 60.

Curiosity partly drew Myra Williams, who has driven a bus for eight years.

“I wanted to see how the county was going to run today,” she said. But she also couldn’t afford to take any additional time off, she said, with summer nearing.

Jamarcus Hamilton had taken 25 children to school as of 7:45 a.m. instead of the 127 he usually brings. A driver for four years, he felt obligated to report for work. It’s about dedication, he said.

“It’s mainly teamwork,” said Hamilton, who knew that if he called off, it would mean more work for his friends and coworkers. He also didn’t want to put parents in a bind by making them find their own transportation.

“It’s less hassle on the parents,” Hamilton said.

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Chamberlain Has Buses, Just Not Many Students

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by Marilyn Brown

Updated Mar 21, 2008 at 10:06 AM

Chamberlain High had 24 buses running, but the most students on any bus was eight. One bus didn’t show up to the school at all—apparently it made its run but had no students.

Classrooms were empty and a few students were working on computers but some were playing cards, others were just sitting and looking bored. Closed circuit televisions were showing school board approved videos, which will be running all day. With the possibility of 2,100 students coming or not coming to school today, said Jeff Boldt, principal, “it’s a little bit of a relief.”

They combined some classes and Boldt said teachers were told they could work one-on-one work with students, make-up work. Students marveled at the few students in the hallways between classes. “You can’t exactly teach today,” said teacher Janet Naaktgeboren. Four students showed up in her honors geometry class and she “adopted” one from another class. They were playing “mathematical Yahtzee” game.

The school asked kids to sign up for pre-excused absences at the beginning of the week and they had stacks of them, said Boldt. When Boldt saw one of them in the hallway this morning, he asked him what he was doing at school. “He just wanted to come and see who was here.”

 

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