Photo by Eugene Driscoll
(Left to right) Sebastian and Rowen Barneby at a protest outside Shelton City Hall.
SHELTON — About 50 people protested outside City Hall Tuesday morning asking Mayor Mark Lauretti to “take responsibility” for not having enough bus drivers to get the city’s kids to the first day of school.
However, the mayor went on the WPLR radio and indicated that school could have started on Tuesday, the scheduled first day, but said the decision to close was made by the school superintendent.
UPDATE: Shelton Public Schools announced at 4 p.m. Tuesday that schools would be open Wednesday, Sept. 4
Background
Shelton city government and Shelton Public Schools/board of education are separate entities.
The city took over transportation services for the board of education in an effort to save money.
Parents Tuesday said they’ve been left in the dark about everything from bus-stop locations to when school will start.
Confidence in the new City Hall-run transportation service had already taken a hit after news surfaced in August that bus drivers who had been driving to and from summer school were allegedly not drug tested.
The issues caused parents Tuesday to question City Hall’s competency during a rally.
“We are here today to say to the mayor, ‘Take responsibility for the project you went to court to get’,” said Angela Pellegrino-Grant, a parent of three who organized the protest. “Talk to the parents of this town who are your constituents, who live here and pay taxes and trust you to provide a safe environment for their kids. We’re here to say none of this is OK.”
At the end of the protest, which had been scheduled from 8:30 a.m. until 9 a.m., Pellegrino-Grant led the parents and citizens in a Shelton-specific parody version of “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Click the video to watch.
Lauretti Responds In Radio Interview
Mayor Lauretti appeared on the Chaz & AJ morning radio show Tuesday to talk about why school didn’t open in Shelton. The mayor put the responsibility on Shelton Schools Superintendent Christopher Clouet.
When asked “what happened,” Lauretti said:
“The superintendent canceled school on Friday. I guess he didn’t think we would be ready this morning.”
Chaz then asked if the buses were ready, to which the mayor replied:
“No, the buses are ready. The buses have been ready.”
But then Lauretti said the drivers aren’t fully ready.
“And you have enough drivers?,” Chaz asked.
“Well, I believe that as of this morning we have enough drivers. We’re awaiting drug-test results for one and certification for two or three drivers,” Lauretti said.
When asked “who dropped the ball on this one,” Lauretti said that “a week ago 10 drivers who committed to being with us left. They went to Durham because Durham offered them a big bonus.”
Durham is a privately-run transportation company that previously handled school busing in Shelton.
Clouet, the school superintendent, had issued a statement Friday at about 4:30 p.m. telling parents school would not be opening Tuesday.
Part of the statement on Facebook read:
“This is not the time for blaming or “throwing rocks”, but the simple fact is the City-run Shelton Student Transportation Services project is not ready. We anticipate opening on September 4. Bus runs and further information will follow.”
The Facebook post is embedded below:
The Protest
Parents interviewed at Tuesday morning’s protest said the Lauretti administration had more than enough time to prepare for the school year.
If there was a bus driver shortage in the transportation industry, which the mayor has said, then the Lauretti administration should have created back-up plans.
They said if City Hall isn’t paying enough to hire drivers, that’s the fault of the organization running the transportation system — in this case, the City of Shelton.
Parents also said the city running the transportation system isn’t a bad idea, especially if it can save money — but that the city has to step up and run a professional operation.
Sebastian Barneby has two kids in Shelton schools — a daughter going into kindergarten and a son going into second grade.
The sudden cancellation of school disrupted his family’s schedule. But the manner in which the mayor and the administration is handling the issue is more disturbing, Barneby said.
“The concern is how they are running the bus company,” he said. “What about safety? They apparently didn’t do the background checks they were supposed to do for summer drivers. We don’t know who our bus driver is going to be. Is this going to be run professionally? So far it doesn’t look like they know what they’re doing at all.”
Jack Finn, a Democrat, served on the Shelton Board of Alderman for 32 years. He was at the protest and called the situation “ridiculous.”
“The city shouldn’t be in the bus business, but I hope this is only a hiccup and that things get better. The mayor is going to have to remember that this is his bus company.”
Parent Lisa Hurlbert said the bus situation is indicative of a larger problem in Shelton.
“We need better transparency from the city and the board of education, and they need to work together. The current situation appears to be that the mayor doesn’t want to work with them, from what little I’m hearing,” she said. “The city’s stock statement is that “We’re on schedule, everything’s fine’.”
“There really doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency that we need to fix something that is wrong,” Hurlbert said.
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
Reporters from several television news outlet were at the protest.
