Parents Given Short Notice To Get Kids To Class
MANCELONA -- Some parents in an Antrim County community are questioning the school district’s decision to keep school open after bus drivers chose not to pick up some students.
Monday morning a Mancelona school bus lost control on an icy back road. That led another driver to skip roads that might be too icy and dangerous.
Bus driver & Trip Coordinator, Mike Biehl says "We just did not go down the roads we felt were not safe."
A parent recalled how they discovered a bus would not be coming to pick up his kids “My kids wait at the door and look out the window. The bus comes at 7:10 A.M., at 7:30 A.M. my wife got a phone call saying that a bus was in a ditch and another driver refused to drive down icy roads."
Bus drivers claim they immediately notified the superintendent’s office of the problem, and calls were made to families. Parents are still frustrated with the short notice they had to take their kids to school. They feel they were put in harm’s way.
A parent says "If I couldn't keep my truck on road, than why bother having school?"
The superintendent of Mancelona Public Schools says he felt a delay was not necessary because not enough roads were icy.
Biehl says "We would have delayed school if we felt the weather was bad enough. We simply did not feel that was the case this morning. Unfortunately, there are a few people it did affect adversely. We feel bad, but we got majority of kids to school safe and on time."
