I'm getting there a little late, but that is nothing new in Boston:
History rolled in on a yellow school bus
What a long ride from so long ago.
See: First Day of School in Boston
Yup, summer is over, kids:
"Boston schools backtrack on recording audio on buses" by James Vaznis and Peter Schworm | Globe Staff September 04, 2014
As a new school year begins Thursday, Boston school officials have decided they will only record images — and not voices and other sounds — when they turn on more than 650 surveillance cameras installed on all school buses.
Initially, school officials had planned to activate the microphones. But now, after some parents and civil liberties advocates raised concerns about potentially violating students’ right to privacy, the School Department is informing parents on its website that the audio recorders on the cameras won’t be activated.
So they say.
“If we decide there is value in audio, we will bring the issue before the School Committee and develop a policy to ensure student privacy,” said Lee McGuire, a School Department spokesman.
The surveillance cameras are among a number of changes in the way the school system provides transportation. A new transportation director, Jonathan Steketee, is at the helm, and 2,100 eighth-graders will be taking the T instead of boarding school buses as part of a cost-cutting endeavor.
Time for a break.
City officials also attempted to assure families Wednesday that the school buses should run normally. That message, delivered at a news conference, came after hundreds of students destined for charter schools that have already begun classes were stranded last week when their buses failed to show up or were running woefully late.
The disruption in service, which unfolded as the bus drivers union continues to negotiate a new contract, prompted some parents and city officials to worry that larger problems were on the horizon when most city schools open Thursday. Last year, bus drivers staged a one-day surprise stoppage that had families and school officials scrambling to find alternative transportation.
They disrupted the fabric of life!
But by the end of last week, the bus routes were largely running on schedule.
“We had a little bump in the road last week, and we’ve had conversations since then and we’ve been assured by the union — the leadership and the membership — that we’re going to have smooth riding,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said at the news conference Wednesday at the Maverick Blue Line station in East Boston.
School officials, however, are still warning parents to be patient with the buses, which tend to run behind schedule during the first few weeks of school as students and families adjust to routines and drivers deal with last-minute changes to their routes.
The American people's patience has run out, thank you very much. Tired if being looted for $hitty services.
When students do climb aboard, it is unlikely they will spot the surveillance cameras unless they are looking for the devices. The cameras — small enough to fit in a hand — are affixed to the ceiling of the buses near the driver. Signs, however, will warn passengers about the cameras.
School officials announced in July they were installing the cameras to crack down on discipline issues and to ensure safe driving. Boston is among a growing number of large urban districts using them, but it remains unclear how many districts supplement the video footage with audio-recording features.
Some parents and advocacy groups applauded the decision by Boston school officials to keep the sound-recording elements turned off.
“It’s great they are not going to be recording the bus gossip of kids as they go to school,” said Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
But she questioned whether using the surveillance cameras was necessary, saying “rarely is there a convincing argument made to the public that surveillance cameras will have a positive impact.”
Muting the audio recorders represents the second time this summer that school officials backed away from a transportation initiative. In July, school officials decided against putting seventh-graders on the T this fall, but they intend to do it next year.
School officials delayed the move amid growing opposition from parents, elected officials, and education advocates and questions from the MBTA about whether the transit system could adequately absorb all the students.
At least ridership will grow.
The backtracking comes with a price.
I knew it.
Initially, the school system estimated $8 million in annual savings by providing T passes to seventh- and eighth-graders instead of transporting them on buses. But the savings has since dropped to $2 million by limiting the change to only eighth-graders.
To allay safety concerns among students and parents, more than 50 school employees wearing blue vests and City Year members clad in their traditional red jackets will work as “safety ambassadors” at key MBTA hubs, where they will assist students with questions.
Speaking at the news conference, MBTA general manager Beverly Scott said, “We are going to do everything we can to make this extremely successful.”
What a mess.
--more--"
At least the crisis is over:
"Eighth-graders graduate to MBTA" by Evan Allen | Globe Staff September 04, 2014
On her first day as an eighth-grader, Maira Barros smiled serenely as she waited for the train at the Fields Corner MBTA station in Dorchester. The 13-year-old was happy to escape the fate of some of her peers: She was riding the T alone, instead of being shadowed by concerned parents.
The first kid that shows up missing or dead will mean hell to pay for the school department.
“I’m feeling good,” Barros said Thursday morning, on her way to the McCormack Middle School. “I feel safe. I have been on the train for a while now.”
Boston Public Schools eighth-graders and their families took to the MBTA with a mix of trepidation and nonchalance on the first day the students were required to ride public transportation instead of traditional yellow school buses as part of a cost-cutting move.
But they have $10 million dollars for qualified teachers to sit around. Think of that on the ride in.
The launch unfolded without any major hitches, school officials said. School buses, meanwhile, largely ran on a normal schedule, though some experienced delays as drivers and families learned routes.
The sight of the buses allayed fears of a replay of last week, when hundreds of students destined for charter schools were stranded when buses failed to show up or ran late. The disruption occurred as the drivers union continued to negotiate a new contract.
On Thursday, the official start of the school year was marked by the usual pomp. Children wore new clothing for the milestone; parents reached out for a final good-luck hug....
Bye.
--more--"
Related:
"Worcester police and school officials are investigating a school bus incident Wednesday that resulted in an alleged assault on the driver. Some parents said the school driver failed to release students in a timely fashion, but school officials maintained that the driver was following protocol in trying to ensure an orderly release for the youngest passengers."
Good thing they got video.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Lack of class schedules riles Madison Park students
Hey, it was the first day. Give the $elf-$erving incompetents of city administration a break, will ya?
