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Nebraska City Public School's former transportation director asked the school board Monday to reverse his firing that came after a first grader was accidentally dropped off at a bus stop 10 miles from his home last August.
Dale Roettger told the school board that he had only his memory to rely on when bus driver Tom Mead called from Union saying six-year-old boy Seth Foreman was still on the bus and did not know where he lived.
Roettger said the school did not provide him or the bus driver with a current list of passengers and correct stops, but he remembered that a boy from the previous year occasionally took the bus to his grandfather's house in Union.
Richard Casey, who manages 215 routes and 71 drivers for the Bellevue Public Schools, appeared on Roettger's behalf.
“We can look in retrospect and say there was a mistake made, but I don't think we can blame it on Tom and I don't think we can blame Dale either,” he said.
Casey said the school was using popsickle sticks to help organize Northside students for the ride home, but the system was no substitute for an up-to-date passenger list.
He said Foreman incorrectly boarded a bus on each of first three days of school, including the first two days when he was not suppose to be on the bus at all.
Without a correct passenger list, he said, Roettger and Mead could not do their jobs correctly.
“They pretty much relied on the student telling them when the student got off, or from their memory of a previous year,” Casey said.
He said effective transportation systems might handle changes in a route or drop a student off at an alternative location when there is a note that is signed by the parent and the school principal.
Even then, he said, the bus driver should have someone to call that can verify the change.
Roettger said he was trying to get the football field ready for the first game of the season when Mead called at 4:30 p.m.
Roettger said past experience led him to believe a secretary would answer the phone at the elementary school at that time.
Roettger, who had been transportation director for five years, also worked as the school's building and grounds foreman and custodian supervisor.
He said he had asked school officials for access to software already available at the school that would provide a photograph and identifying information for all bus riders, but said he request was dismissed as unnecessary.
Nebraska City Public School's former transportation director asked the school board Monday to reverse his firing that came after a first grader was accidentally dropped off at a bus stop 10 miles from his home last August.
Dale Roettger told the school board that he had only his memory to rely on when bus driver Tom Mead called from Union saying six-year-old boy Seth Foreman was still on the bus and did not know where he lived.
Roettger said the school did not provide him or the bus driver with a current list of passengers and correct stops, but he remembered that a boy from the previous year occasionally took the bus to his grandfather's house in Union.
Richard Casey, who manages 215 routes and 71 drivers for the Bellevue Public Schools, appeared on Roettger's behalf.
“We can look in retrospect and say there was a mistake made, but I don't think we can blame it on Tom and I don't think we can blame Dale either,” he said.
Casey said the school was using popsickle sticks to help organize Northside students for the ride home, but the system was no substitute for an up-to-date passenger list.
He said Foreman incorrectly boarded a bus on each of first three days of school, including the first two days when he was not suppose to be on the bus at all.
Without a correct passenger list, he said, Roettger and Mead could not do their jobs correctly.
“They pretty much relied on the student telling them when the student got off, or from their memory of a previous year,” Casey said.
He said effective transportation systems might handle changes in a route or drop a student off at an alternative location when there is a note that is signed by the parent and the school principal.
Even then, he said, the bus driver should have someone to call that can verify the change.
Roettger said he was trying to get the football field ready for the first game of the season when Mead called at 4:30 p.m.
Roettger said past experience led him to believe a secretary would answer the phone at the elementary school at that time.
Roettger, who had been transportation director for five years, also worked as the school's building and grounds foreman and custodian supervisor.
He said he had asked school officials for access to software already available at the school that would provide a photograph and identifying information for all bus riders, but said he request was dismissed as unnecessary.
Prior to the school year, Roettger traveled with bus drivers on each of the school's four routes.
At each stop, he said, a “yellow sheet” was delivered telling parents the driver's name, bus number and the times students would be picked up and dropped off.
He said Foreman’s house was not included on the bus route at this time because application for a bus service wasnot made until the first day of school.
It had been the school's practice, Roettger said, to give bus riders a form for their parents to fill out. The form would ask for phone numbers and possible alternative locations at student might be dropped off at.
After about a month into the school year a passenger list was completed.
Roettger said the first day of school at Northside was different than in previous years.
Previously, he said, bus riders exited the building in single file and were organized by students who would take rural routes and those who just needed a ride to another school in town.
“This year, they came from everywhere. There was no organization at all,” Roettger said.
He said several children boarded the wrong bus on the first day causing a delay of over an hour at Northside.
He said it was not much better on the second day and on the third day he was prompted to purchase two-way radios in hopes of improving communications.
Lincoln attorney Gary Young reminded the board that a Cass County jury found the bus driver not guilty of fault in the situation and asked them to do the same for Roettger.
“Yes, he had the title of transportation director, but, in fact, transportation was directed from the schools and Dale was caught in the middle,” Young said.
For new riders, he said, bus drivers and Roettger had to rely on the ability of the school to get kids loaded correctly.
“There was a trap here for children who are new to the school district and the lack of information was the trap,” he said.
“It was only a matter of time that this was going to happen,” he said.
The school board met in executive session following Monday's meeting to consider the appeal.
