CCSD Transportation Responds To Parents’ Concerns

By JENNA RHUDE

Moapa Valley Progress

Clark County School District Transportation Department officials have heard concerns from parents and have resolved many concerns regarding bus stops and routes in Moapa Valley.

The school year got off to a rough start for many local parents as they tried to make sense of changes made to school transportation routes. Many parents had safety concerns in what was going to be involved in their children catching a ride to school on the bus. Many bus stops had been moved, combined or eliminated altogether. And many of the changes made little sense.

In the first week of school, parents reported spending hours on the telephone with CCSD Transportation Dept. officials trying to get a solution. But many said they felt they were getting nowhere.
But last week, parents got word that all of the bus stops and routes from the previous 2017-18 school year would be re-instated. This resolved most of the concerns.

CCSD Associate Superintendent Grant Hanevold was the main force in bringing the resolution. After reading an article about the problem in the Moapa Valley Progress, Hanevold immediately began working to resolve the issue. He made phone calls to CCSD Transportation officials and was able to quickly resolve the misunderstandings and solve the problem. Hanevold, who works for CCSD central office in Las Vegas, resides in Logandale.

“I didn’t even know there was a problem until I read about it in the paper,” Hanevold said. “Once I knew about it, we were able to solve the whole thing with a phone call.”

Hanevold acknowledged that local parents had followed proper channels in contacting the CCSD Transportation Dept. first with the issues. But once those calls had not produced results, he was happy to step in and help.
“Once people are spending a lot of time trying to find the proper channels and not getting anywhere, I’m happy to be the next contact,” Hanevold said. “We can usually get things taken care of.”

Many parents reported that CCSD officials had made an impressive effort to contact them to notify them of the changes that would resolve their concerns.

Erica Moore as impressed with Mack Lyon Middle School staff and administration. “Mary Ann Cox and Mr. (Ken) Paul were both very helpful,” Moore said. “Mr. Paul offered to walk my son to the bus every day and ensure the driver let him ride until it was resolved.”

Moore’s son was initially denied transportation and she could not get a resolution as to why. She said that she had obtained the email address of the appropriate CCSD Transportation official and contacted him. “He got back to me immediately and resolved the issue by the end of day on Tuesday, August 21,” she said.

Jacqui Hitter was another parent who had concerns with her son’s busing. He was being asked to walk the high school bus stop, which is almost two miles away from his home. Hitter was not only concerned about the walk on a hot day, but also had safety concerns about the high school parking lot being the staging area for the bus stop.

But Hitter said that CCSD officials resolved the problem by the end of the second week of school. “On August 24, I got a call and they changed his stop (to a safer one),” Hitter said. “I was shocked. They called at 5:30 PM.”

Overall the parents response was best summed up by Jenni Adams. “Our outcome was positive,” she said. “Even though it took over 3 weeks of phone calls and emails to make the changes happen. I am incredibly grateful that they made the changes and took the safety of our children into account.”