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Glenbard District 87 candidate speaks out on bus route safety

A Glenbard High School District 87 school board candidate is raising concerns about student safety along Glenbard East bus routes.

Martha Mueller, an East school bus driver, is one of six candidates vying for three spots in the April 7 election.

The other candidates are incumbents Mary Ozog and Tom Trefilek, and newcomers Margaret DeLaRosa, Brian Loftus and L.J. Spasovski.

During an endorsement interview with the Daily Herald, Mueller said the district's bus routing software, VersaTrans, needs to include more up-to-date information.

"My main thing is they need to make sure the records are up to date ... with the locations of where the kids are actually walking from so that their path of travel is the safest path of travel," Mueller said. "If they're going to make them walk to a bus stop, they need to make sure that those paths are safe."

As the system is now, Mueller said some kids end up making unsafe walks because of the placement of bus stops.

She said some locations are problems year-round and others are affected when there's bad weather.

She said the problem just takes "a click of a mouse" to fix.

"You've got the kids, you've got all these great programs, but then you've got to get them home safe," Mueller said. "It's 6:30 at night and if we're going that way, I'm not going to make them walk two blocks off of Armitage in Glendale Heights where there's no sidewalks, no lights and traffic cutting through because they're saying I can't take them half a block away." She said the bus company, Illinois Central, could make the fix, but the school district manages its own system.

Ozog said in the four years she has been on the school board, this topic has not been brought up.

Should it be brought up, she said, it would be addressed.

Glenbard spokeswoman Peg Mannion said the district manages all routing to make sure no changes are made without its approval.

"Although the service is provided by a third party, we are ultimately responsible for the routing of our system," Mannion said in an email. "We are always open to suggestions and will implement suggestions when they have merit."

She said the district provides a transportation system that "makes student safety a top priority."

Each year, the district's transportation team reviews all routes, Mannion added. The district also meets with Illinois Central.

If a bus driver notices an unsafe route, Illinois Central's protocol is for the driver to tell a manager, who is then supposed to alert the assistant principal for operations at the school.

District officials then investigate and make necessary changes.

Brian Loftus said there may be room for improvement with the routing process.

"This to me kind of seems like a thing where maybe in the past, and this is just speculation, my opinion, is that maybe the district is used to doing this hands-on," he said. "But there are cases where people can do things better, faster, cheaper and you can outsource it to the bus company, you can outsource it to somebody who maybe has an expertise."

Mannion said the district values the perspectives of all who work with its students.

But Mueller said her boss at Illinois Central, Jeff Sherman, does not want her to communicate directly with the schools. Sherman declined comment.

Mueller said she thinks there should be open communication between the drivers and the Glenbards.

"When there's open communication between the driver and the school," she said, "then things aren't overlooked."

Mary Ozog
Margaret DeLaRosa
Tom Trefilek
Brian Loftus
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