DAYTON -- It's no secret Dayton Public Schools have been working on their image and one of the big complaints they continue to get deals with busing.
"Hello this is an important message from Dayton public schools regarding your child bus stop." Christina Pavliga feels she gets way too many of those calls from DPS saying her driver will be late or won't be able to make it at all. She's gotten two in the last two weeks.
"They called me one time at 6:57 in the morning but he's supposed to be out here at 7:10," Pavliga said. "So you want to call me 10 minutes before we are supposed to be out here and three minutes before I have to walk into my job what is that doing for me. Why don't you have a bus and why am I getting that many phone calls.
Her son Kalik takes a bus to Ascension Catholic School in Kettering and she says as a single parent, it's hard to keep her job when she's always having to answer these phone calls.
"I have to leave my job," she said. "That's a loss of income and that could very well like we very soon be a lot of my job I'm not a very reliable worker if I have to keep I'm leaving my job to pick up my son."
"Our son only rides the bus in the afternoon because the last 3 or 4 years the buses been really undependable and we both work in the morning so we can sit here and wait on to see whether not the bus is going to be late," said Jamie Blevins, who has a fifth grader at Ascension.
Parents at Ascension tell us they feel their child is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to busing because this is a private school. So we asked Dayton Public Schools directly: is there a hierarchy between public and private schools?
"No, we deliver over 13,000 to 61 sites everyday and we do that as safely and reliably as possible to get them ontime to the bus stop," said Jo Wilson, Executive Director of Facilities Management and Operations at Dayton Public Schools. "There is no difference between a student who is enrolled in a DPS school than a student who is not enrolled in a DPS school."
DPS says it would like for everyday to be perfect with no missed routes but between mechanical issues and no substitute drivers to fill in for sick drivers, that's just not possible.
"Whatever the issue is its not really my problem my problem is getting my son to school," said Pavliga.
So we're at a standstill, DPS needs more drivers and these parents need a sure -proof way for their children to get to school.
If you would like to apply to be a substitute driver for DPS click here.
DPS does say their complaints are down a lot from last year. They say better communication and new leadership has improved their busing and that over time parents will notice the difference.
Connect with ABC 22/FOX 45 Reporter Wale Aliyu on Facebook and Twitter.
"Hello this is an important message from Dayton public schools regarding your child bus stop." Christina Pavliga feels she gets way too many of those calls from DPS saying her driver will be late or won't be able to make it at all. She's gotten two in the last two weeks.
"They called me one time at 6:57 in the morning but he's supposed to be out here at 7:10," Pavliga said. "So you want to call me 10 minutes before we are supposed to be out here and three minutes before I have to walk into my job what is that doing for me. Why don't you have a bus and why am I getting that many phone calls.
Her son Kalik takes a bus to Ascension Catholic School in Kettering and she says as a single parent, it's hard to keep her job when she's always having to answer these phone calls.
"I have to leave my job," she said. "That's a loss of income and that could very well like we very soon be a lot of my job I'm not a very reliable worker if I have to keep I'm leaving my job to pick up my son."
"Our son only rides the bus in the afternoon because the last 3 or 4 years the buses been really undependable and we both work in the morning so we can sit here and wait on to see whether not the bus is going to be late," said Jamie Blevins, who has a fifth grader at Ascension.
Parents at Ascension tell us they feel their child is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to busing because this is a private school. So we asked Dayton Public Schools directly: is there a hierarchy between public and private schools?
"No, we deliver over 13,000 to 61 sites everyday and we do that as safely and reliably as possible to get them ontime to the bus stop," said Jo Wilson, Executive Director of Facilities Management and Operations at Dayton Public Schools. "There is no difference between a student who is enrolled in a DPS school than a student who is not enrolled in a DPS school."
DPS says it would like for everyday to be perfect with no missed routes but between mechanical issues and no substitute drivers to fill in for sick drivers, that's just not possible.
"Whatever the issue is its not really my problem my problem is getting my son to school," said Pavliga.
So we're at a standstill, DPS needs more drivers and these parents need a sure -proof way for their children to get to school.
If you would like to apply to be a substitute driver for DPS click here.
DPS does say their complaints are down a lot from last year. They say better communication and new leadership has improved their busing and that over time parents will notice the difference.
Connect with ABC 22/FOX 45 Reporter Wale Aliyu on Facebook and Twitter.
