The meeting room of the Winslow Unified School District’s Governing Board brimmed with parents and staff at last week’s meeting. Taking place in the middle of the first week of the new school year, the pre-meeting whispers and the number of departures after a particular agenda item made it evident that most attendees were there to discuss the district’s new bus routes. The board and administrators at the respective schools have been inundated with complaints about the schedule, prompting board president Debbie Martinez to address the concerns before opening the floor to public comment.
“In the State of Arizona, bus transportation is not required,” Martinez began. “We’d love to pick up each student and ensure their safe arrival, but we lack both the manpower and the buses. If we tried to accommodate everyone, the buses would end up overcrowded, and our students could be on them for an hour. We understand it’s a challenge for some parents. Joseph City, Holbrook, and other surrounding communities adhere to the one-mile radius. It’s not just Winslow Unified School District; we’re all in the same situation. For years, the one-mile radius wasn’t enforced. Last year, our new transportation supervisor, Mr. Tony Mora, noticed the department wasn’t following district policy and procedures. He began correcting this, starting with Washington School. This gave Jefferson School’s ‘littles’ an extra year before enforcing the mile radius as per policy. Unfortunately, many parents only found out about this policy on the first day of school. Somewhere, there was a miscommunication, and for that, we apologize.”
A major concern raised was about Mary’s Little Lambs, a daycare near downtown Winslow. It’s situated less than a mile from the schools, which means children on their way to the first, second, and third grades would need to traverse over half a mile, crossing at least two busy streets. Initially, the district considered an agreement with Mary’s Little Lambs to transport the students. However, this idea was shelved as they sought a more equitable solution for all young students in similar situations.
In her address, Martinez clarified that they would be adopting a policy change exclusively for Jefferson Elementary School, not for other schools with older students where they had also received similar complaints. This compromise aims to prioritize the safety of younger children without overloading the buses.
However, there’s still uncertainty about accommodating this change. The administrators and Mora will spend the rest of the week evaluating the situation, with hopes of determining a more permanent solution by the end of this week.
After Martinez’s address, four attendees who had filled out speaker cards felt their concerns were addressed and chose not to speak. Two other parents, who did not state their name for the record, proposed potential solutions. One likely solution suggested was to extend bus route four, which currently concludes its journey at Bonnie Brennan Elementary School, to also stop at Jefferson Elementary on its way back to the bus barn.
Another important topic of conversation was the high school track and its completion date. The district has been renovating the track since school let out in May, but it seems the job was more complicated than initially expected. They had to remove the current track as well as a track that was underneath. This added work extended the project’s duration. They believe the track should be finished sometime this semester, but certainly not in time for the football season. The home games have been moved to different fields, including Coconino High School in Flagstaff. The details on where the games will be played are still being worked out but are expected to be determined soon.
The district changed another policy at the meeting, allowing job postings in the district to be posted without prior approval from the board. The previous policy required that the board approve a resignation before the job could be posted, which lengthened the recruitment process. Board member Todd Wilcox brought the idea to the board, suggesting that recruiting could improve if they removed this policy. Wilcox looked into the reasoning behind adopting a policy that required board approval for job postings and found that it was simply the preference of a previous board. Regardless of the original reasons, the policy was not benefiting the district, prompting the change.
In other business, the board:
* Accepted $150 worth of merchandise from Walmart for door prizes for the back-to-school staff party and from Winslow Elks Lodge, who donated their time to cook for the party.
* Approved the following hires: Remedios Cimafranca, kindergarten teacher (upon certification); Darrell House, emergency substitute (upon certification); Emily Kloor, emergency substitute; Jonathan Nells, substitute; Brandi Serious, high needs paraprofessional; and James Kuwunvana, full-time driver.
* Approved various fundraising requests.
* Approved a new club, WHS Dance line.
The next meeting of the WUSD school board will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, in the meeting room located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
