Transit Authority Might Provide Student Transportation Opportunity
Town and Country Transit buses might be making their way onto the new Armstrong Junior-Senior High School campus in Manor Township this fall to pick up students after regular school classes (KP File Photo)
by Jonathan Weaver
Students practicing after-school at Armstrong Junior-Senior High this Fall might not have to worry about calling for a ride home.
Town and Country Transit General Manager Patti Lynn Baker said that discussions have began with Armstrong School District’s Director of Student Transportation, Child Accounting and Safe Schools Jon Fair in regard to a quasi-activity bus for the Manor Township students.
The fixed-route trips would be available to students involved in sports, band or other activities that would prevent students from utilizing the school bus following an average class day.
“It’s just exploratory at this point – there was some interest expressed,” Baker said.
Baker explained that the service would not be a charter service for the students, but if negotiated with school board directors could be an additional stop along the bus’ fixed route to other stops in Kittanning, Ford City or Manor Township.
“Any routes that we would add that would include the high school would be very-much like we did when we included Kittanning (Senior High) or Ford City – it would be absorbed into our regular route,” Baker said. “It wouldn’t be service that only went to the high school.”
Similar fixed-route adjustments were made when Lenape Tech in Manor Township began adult education courses or at the request of West Hills Intermediate teachers at the East Franklin Township school when transit drivers are utilizing Wible Road.
“We didn’t add any time to our schedule – we changed a few runs,” Baker explained. “Anytime there’s an adjustment like that sometimes it’s a give and take – maybe you don’t make as many trips to one destination as another or sometimes it’s just as easy as just changing the routing of how you get from one place to another.
“(But) we’re doing a fair amount with them. That’s proven to work out very well for their needs as well as it works well within our schedule. That’s a deviated fixed-route – when they need us, they call (and) it’s (only) a quarter-mile off of our fixed route.”
Manor Township Representative Steven Anderson was curious about students that will play sports, since practice facilities for fall sports such as football and soccer will not have fields on the new school campus when school opens. Baker said fixed-route trips past Kittanning Senior High still take place and would not exclude those affected students.
Anderson and Manorville Borough Representative Hyatt Hawk were receptive of the possibility.
School board directors previously had set after-school runs from West Shamokin Junior-Senior High in Rural Valley, but those were canceled due to lack of participation.
Baker said no discussion has been held as to expand services to West Shamokin students.
Local News | jweaver August 20, 2015
By Elderton Parent, August 20, 2015 @ 7:34 AM
It would be nice if they expanded the service for those parents/students that did utilize the service at WSHS. Some kids are not able to participate in after school activities because of it. Or some are staying after school even if they have a later practice because their parents work.
Maybe a little less on the salaries and a little more spent on the students? Our students deserve it.