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Date: 10/26/2022
CHICOPEE – Members of the City Council’s Education Committee and the School Committee met on Oct. 13 to discuss concerns regarding driving violations occurring during student drop-off and pick-up for school buses.
Education Committee Chair and Ward 9 City Councilor Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello, City Council President Frank Laflamme, City Council Vice President Robert Zygarowski, City Councilor-at-Large James Tillotson, interim Superintendent Alvin Morton, Ward 5 School Committee member Grace Schofield, Ward 6 School Committee member Samuel Shumsky and Ward 7 School Committee member Donald Lamothe were in attendance for the informational meeting.
Chicopee Public Schools Transportation Director Ann Kos explained to the committees that numerous drivers are ignoring the law requiring drivers stop when school buses stop to pick up and drop off students. The district’s buses, which are operated by Five Star Transportation, make roughly 900 stops during pick-up and drop-off times.
“It happens every single day during the school times … we can probably say out of the 89 routes, 50 percent at least are reporting that people are going through the stop signs,” said Kos.
To counter the dangerous infractions, Kos proposed that the School Department add more buses. Kos believes adding buses so that routes can be drawn in which buses only stop for students on the right side of the road will eliminate any potentially dangerous street crossings for students.
“We want our kids to get home safe, and the way we can ensure that happening is by putting more buses on the road. … The goal on all of these main streets is to have every single one of those stops stop at the right side, so we don’t have any of our students crossing the street,” said Kos.
Kos said a pilot program funding additional buses could derive from leftover funds in the School Department’s fiscal year 2023 budget. She also shared that the presence of the Chicopee Police Department officers often helps in hindering the law-breaking road activity.
Lt. Eric Laflamme said the Police Department tracks areas that are reported for numerous traffic infractions. However, the department is limited by its resources.
“I have spoken to the chief [Patrick Major] about this issue. … He is committed to addressing them, it’s just that its difficult with the amount of officers on the road,” said Eric Laflamme.
Kos stressed the importance of collaboration between the School Department and the police in addressing these concerns. She said that the camera footage recorded from inside the Five Star buses is often submitted as evidence to the Police Department.
Additionally, Frank Laflamme suggested that Chicopee can work with its state legislators to create a new law that would allow school buses to use exterior cameras to collect evidence of cars illegally passing a stopped bus.
Morton said that while the police cannot issue a citation if they are not present for the infractions, the Police Department could start sending warning letters to perpetrators caught via camera.
“We can come up with a draft letter to send to these individuals. … At least we will put them on notice that we are aware that you’re doing this, and that in itself may be some type of deterrent,” said Morton.
Tillotson aspires for the council, the School Department and the Police Department to collaborate in the future on developing these ideas into an effective solution.
“Hopefully, we’ll come up with some plans that make sense,” said Tillotson.
The Education Committee and School Committee also discussed updates to the schools’ yearly budget process. Morton said that school district will be working proactively to submit its budget earlier after dealing with “unforeseen circumstances” during their last budget process.
“We are starting the budget process next month, so we’re starting a little bit earlier. … We’re hoping we have it done a little bit earlier,” said Morton.