PINE BUSH – The 2017-18 school year got started with two opening days in the Pine Bush School District, one for staff members on September 5, and another the next day for students. Superintendent Tim Mains told the school board both events were smooth. Speaking at the September 12 board meeting, Mains said he witnessed energetic students and devoted staff members. Mains said that despite downpours, he visited every occupied classroom in every school in the district on September 6. "Active and engaged students and well-prepared teachers," were the rule, he said.

Opening week even ended well on September 8, when the Bushmen ran past the Valley Central Vikings 41-22 in a non-league football game. There was a rainbow above the field, to boot, Mains said.

It wasn't quite so smooth on bus routes through the district that sprawls across parts of Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties, but by the end of the week any problems brought to the district's attention were resolved, Mains said. Look, he said, there are 100 buses and 5,400 students and only a handful of problems.

District Addresses First Day Bus Mistake
The most high-profile miscue, which set social media ablaze, involved a 6-year-old who got on the wrong bus, and didn't arrive home until well after his normal drop off time and having to walk part of the way.

When the boy didn't show up on time, his mother first called and then went to the school. The first news the schools get about a missing child is usually from a parent, Mains said. The district admits that the driver didn't follow protocol, which called for the child to be returned to school. The driver told the district that he made an effort to reach the dispatcher, but Mains said the district doesn't think he made an "adequate effort." The incident has been dealt with. "Most drivers do a fine job," Mains said, adding that safety is a big issue in the district. If the kids don't feel safe on the buses or in school, you can't teach, he said.

The second issue involves how the child got on the bus in the first place. In this case a teacher helping kids get on the buses used a list marked up by a helper that first day of classes. The helper assigned the child to the wrong bus. The district made it clear to the teacher that teachers are ultimately responsible for the children, not the helpers. The school is looking into the possibility of refining the student lists down to the classroom level to head off future mistakes.

Nonetheless, the school's response regarding the driver hardly satisfied people who posted to a story on the News 12 Westchester web page, suggesting the fallout should include the arrest and imprisonment of the driver and lawsuits against the district. The incident also spilled over to involve drivers for First Student Inc., the company that transports Pine Bush students to school. Drivers are worried that First Student will lose the work when its contract with the district wraps up in December. They fear the botched student drop off would sour the district on First Student.

A representative for the drivers, chief steward Tom Tocco, of Teamsters Local 445, asked the board if drivers could meet privately with the board to discuss rumors. The board balked at the request, believing that the bus company should also be represented at such a meeting. Further, the board was reluctant to hold the meeting in private. Tocco agreed to send an email to board members outlining his concerns as a first step in resolving the problem.

After the board meeting ended, Mains said that the district had not even drawn up a new transportation contract or decided whether to seek bids on a contract or send out a request for proposals to transport the students.

In The Field With Army Medics
High school Principal Aaron Hopmayer gave the public and the board a quick tour of the district's unusual summer learning academies with a photo presentation. With the addition of a human rights academy, programs are now open to students from sixth through twelfth grades, and in some cases result in high school and college credits.

The Summer Enrichment Academy Program is a point of pride in the district. Mains said he knows of no other program, now in its 16th year, remotely like it. This past summer 316 students participated in academies focused on leadership and law, performing arts, science, medicine, aviation and horsepower, the last of which involved a trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to test a motorcycle designed by the students. The programs are short, running three to four weeks, intensive and gives students a leg up when the regular school starts.

The programs' growth and success is in no small part thanks to the involvement of such partners as the U.S. Army, West Point, Stewart Air National Guard unit, the Crawford Police Department, Orange Regional Medical Center and Orange County government, and the Wurtsboro Airport, farms and farm markets. The district figures the partners and fund-raisers contribute nearly $51,000 to the program. The district chips in $35,000, and tuition runs from $275 to $525 for each student. The district does offer "quite a few" scholarships for students who might otherwise not be able to participate.

The academy programs are short, intense and in some cases involve the cooperation of multiple academies. They must be good, said Mains, to get high school kids out of bed early Sunday morning, for example, to work with Army medics in the field, learning how to make splints, perform triage and sterilize tools in less than ideal situations. Students in the horsepower academy not only designed body parts for the motorcycle project, but made them, using 3-D fabrication. Tests at Bonneville were interrupted by a blown engine, but that nothing to do with the fabricated parts, and the students got to meet with other students from around the country.

Board Agrees To Contracts With Local 74
In other business, the board unanimously approved a resolution to okay new contracts with Local 74 of the United Service Workers Union covering cafeteria workers and operations and maintenance workers. The deal with the cafeteria workers runs from September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2022. The operations and maintenance workers deal covers July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2022. As part of the agreement, the union agreed to a new health coverage package that will save the district a substantial amount of money once it goes into effect in January, said Michael Pacella, the assistant superintendent for business. Pacella wanted to publicly thank members of Local 74 for going along with the change.