By Terry James and Sam Thomas
NORMAL- The location manager for First Student has been replaced. First Student handles taking children to and from school in Unit five. First Student Spokesman Chris Kemper says the location manager has been replaced.
“For the person that operates that location, we have a new person in place,” Kemper said. “And that’s part of our broad effort to try and improve our level of service as quickly as possible.”
Unit Five and First Student have been under fire after complaints of late and overcrowded buses. WJBC News contacted the local spokesperson for First Student, however we are now being directed to call a media hotline with a Cincinnati area code.
New policies are in place four days later than expected for First Student and Kemper says it stems from a lack of communication.
“Really, it’s a matter of communication. When you change the routing process you want to make sure there’s an opportunity for everyone to understand the changes taking place. We want to make sure we communicate that as effectively as possible.”
Kemper added that the new system for busing that was supposed to be in effect Thursday of last week went into effect Monday.
“We initiated our new routing system this morning for the first time,” he said. “We believe it’s made a positive impact but we are not ready to wave a victory flag yet by any stretch of the imagination.”
A large number of parents showed up at a school board meeting last week to complain about late and overcrowded buses.
Terry James can be reached at Terry@WJBC.com and Sam Thomas can be reached at Sam@WJBC.com
