Social media has been active lately, said Rochester representative of the ORR School Committee, as he raised “serious” parent and community concerns over the school district’s bus company during the September 28 joint meeting of the ORR School Committee and the combined Mattapoisett, Marion, and Rochester School Committees.
“What I saw and what I was hearing and what people were telling me is basically tarnishing the school’s reputation,” said Joseph Pires. Once he spoke with Superintendent Doug White about the matter, Pires said he felt compelled to take a closer look at the schools’ contracted bus company, Braga Transportation.
Pires did not provide specific details on the issue he was talking about, leaving members of other Tri-Town school committees wondering what happened.
To fill the reader in, the Facebook group “Rochester, MA” has featured several posts over the past week concerning the firing of Ralph Stinson, a bus driver formerly employed by Braga who drove Rochester’s Bus 5 for 27 years. Scores of Rochester parents, some of them past passengers of Stinson’s, have rallied their support behind Stinson, pressing for an investigation into Braga’s firing of Stinson. Hundreds of comments appear on the original post, most of them expressing shock and vehement support of Stinson, who commented on the post that he himself was never provided an adequate explanation for his firing.
Signs have started dotting the Rochester landscape along the Bus 5 route in support of Stinson, as many are still seeking answers.
“Many parents were upset about that,” said Pires, “but that’s not the issue I want to talk about.” What Pires is concerned about most, he said, is Braga’s alleged silence in response to parents’ requests for information and an investigation into Stinson’s firing.
“Parents are very, very upset. They really want to see this fixed,” said Pires. “Accountability is a really big issue with me.”
School contracts for transportation must have protocols imbedded, said Pires reading a letter he wrote to White openly before the committee members about what he called “a failure from our current bus company Braga Transportation to respond to a complaint from one of our Tri-Town parents.”
“This and other issues have now raised serious concerns and doubt on the safety of our children,” Pires stated, adding, “I question Braga … and their ability to deliver a high standard of performance and reliability and safety.”
Pires requested a task force or subcommittee be formed to investigate the bus company.
“We cannot ignore signs [and] indicators that suggest problems now and into the future with Braga Transportation,” said Pires. ”I feel as though this is a serious matter when a parent complains and it goes ignored for quite some time. I can only say, imagine if it was your child?”
Addressing the committee members, Pires said, “This committee could be part of the solution or it could be part of the problem, but we can’t ignore it.”
Pires suggested inviting a Braga representative to a future meeting.
Marion School Committee Chairman Christine Marcolini said this was the first she had heard of any problems with the transportation company.
“One child was ignored,” Pires told her, “and … my doubt or concern is, what else are they ignoring?”
ORR School Committee member Heather Burke agreed that it is important to investigate every complaint or concern, adding, “If we do form such a task force … we really have to go into it with an open mind and probe all sides…. It has to be an open and honest inquiry.”
“A parent asked something of the bus company,” said ORR School Committee Chairman Tina Rood. “This is a particular issue for Rochester.”
White said transportation contracts are a complex structure, with each individual town signing its own contract with a bus company; all Tri-Town school districts just happened to sign a contract with the same bus company.
“What may be happening in one community isn’t necessarily in another,” said White. “In our structure, it’s hard for us to figure out how the best way [to go about this] is.”
Marion School Committee member Michelle Smith said she has seen the comments on social media.
“It’s all over social media,” Smith said. “Things said about Doug, it’s disheartening. It’s very upsetting.” The social media platform might be an open forum, she said, but as a committee, “… how can we diffuse this situation?”
Burke wondered why, if so many parents were concerned, they had not attended that night’s meeting.
“Why are they not here to address their concerns with the committee?” she asked. “I know we had an issue with social media last winter that was never substantiated and it caused chaos.”
ORR School Committee member Jim Muse said he thought individual parents contacting the bus company before attempting to contact the school was the inappropriate avenue for lodging a complaint, and Pires accused Muse of “minimizing” the issue.
“Minimizing what?” said Muse.
“You’re saying that it’s a story, but it’s factual,” said Pires. “A complaint came in and it was ignored for … a year!”
Pires turned to White for affirmation. “Doug, was there a complaint?”
“There was information that was brought forward,” White said. “Our job … is to ensure that every child is being transported. That was not being met.”
Braga has certain obligations in its contract, said White, and the school districts have the authority “to ask for change if not delivering services,” White stated.
Speaking as a parent, Pires said, “There’s an uncertainty and an unsettling feeling that if I put a complaint with this bus company … that complaint’s going to that company… That company is responsible for handling that complaint. That didn’t happen. If a company can’t do its job by handling a complaint … there is a concern on legality and other issues.”
The goal, Pires said, is simply to regain the trust.
“It’s unfair that the school is taking a hit really on its reputation and, if we don’t act accordingly, it’s going to be a landslide,” said Pires.
Rood said she has also requested to review the contract with Braga, adding that the discussion will likely take place during the Rochester School Committee meeting on October 12.
“I think that’s where it probably needs to begin,” said Rood.
Pires said that if people had known the topic would be discussed that night then parents would have attended the joint meeting.
Pires specified that he was not criticizing bus drivers, but rather the Braga administration. Muse went on the record to say that in all his years as a school committee member, he has known nothing but excellent service from Braga.
“I haven’t been aware of any other issues,” said Rochester School Committee member Robin Rounseville, “not to say that this doesn’t need to be investigated…” Rounseville said that taking the matter up in Rochester is the way to go.
The next meeting of the ORR and Superintendents Union joint school committees is scheduled for December 14 at 6:30 pm in the ORRJHS media room.
Joint Meeting of the School Committees
By Jean Perry