Bus Routes

Greencastle parents and bus drivers stood outside the entrance to a school board meeting at Greencastle-Antrim Middle School Thursday night holding signs that read: “No contractors.” Their peaceful protest was to encourage board members to vote against outsourcing 14 bus routes to contractors. “We don't want to lose our jobs. I've hauled kindergarten students long enough to see them graduate,” said Jackie Simmons, a school district bus driver and spokeswoman for the  drivers.

dank@herald-mail.com HANCOCK - Hancock Elementary School students will no longer ride the bus with Hancock Middle-Senior High School students, Washington County Board of Education President Edward Forrest said Tuesday. The splitting of Hancock school bus routes will cost less than previously estimated, Director of Transportation Chris Carter told the School Board Tuesday. Busing students to the two schools costs about $248,000 a year, Carter said. Running separate bus routes for the two schools would add about $87,000 to transportation costs, Carter said.

tarar@herald-mail.com scottb@herald-mail.com Nearly 3 inches of rain that fell Thursday night and Friday in Hagerstown caused the closure of roads throughout the Tri-State area and led to some schools being dismissed early. More than 20 Washington County roads were closed at least temporarily Friday and county schools were dismissed an hour early due to flooding and rising creeks, Public Information Officer Carol Mowen said. As of 6 p.m. Friday, Hagerstown received 2 inches of rain, according to Hagerstown weather observer Greg Keefer's Web site.

HAGERSTOWN - While adding nine buses to its fleet, Washington County Public Schools officials also are looking to hire more drivers before the school year begins, said Transportation Director Christopher Carter. He said Maryland law requires that school buses be replaced every 12 years. "So, we're constantly replacing buses," he said. Orders are placed for these buses in their 11th year of service. Fourteen of the county's school buses were replaced this year, Carter said.

Saint Patrick's Day fans can get an early start this Saturday celebrating the Irish holiday with the Downtown Live! Pub Crawl. After seeing successful pub crawls in Baltimore and other areas, Mike Deming, a downtown developer who organizes Downtown Live! events, organized Saturday's event to generate more business for the downtown area. Saint Patrick's Day is typically a good night for pubs and restaurants with bars, Deming said. This will help during the day, starting with a breakfast buffet at 43 South.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Washington County Public Schools students may continue to use school bus transportation to attend schools outside of their assigned attendance districts if they can board buses already en route to those schools. A vote Tuesday by the Washington County Board of Education continues a provision in the policy that, had it been allowed to expire, would have eliminated that privilege. The vote was 6-0 with board member William H. Staley absent. The school board approved a new transportation policy last year, and the section that allows students to be picked up or dropped off at locations other than their homes would have expired at the end of the school year without school board action.

Thumbs up, thumbs down 3/10 To the Hagerstown City Council, for agreeing to give Community Rescue Service a $20,000 grant. Now it's time for the Washington County government to match that. To the Washington County Board of Education, for realizing that they need better communications with a variety of business, citizens and school groups and hiring a public-relations director to help with the job. To the Washington County Board of Education, for dithering around about proposed modification to Hancock bus routes.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer A ballooning County Commuter deficit has Washington County officials looking to the City of Hagerstown for help in tuning up the bus system's ailing finances. The county is asking the city for $136,000 annually to prop up the system. A decreasing number of riders combined with federal and state budget cutbacks resulted in an unfunded deficit of $157,000 last year, on top of the $200,000 the county pays each year for the service. County Commuter Transit Supervisor Kevin Cerrone and Ted Wolford, transportation superintendent, recommended that the city pay 10 percent of the $1.36 million cost of operating the bus system.

A new organization wants to help disabled Washington County residents with transportation problems, grievances against businesses and other concerns. Coordinator Norman Bassett said the first priority of the Washington County Disability Advisory Committee will be helping disabled residents get around the county. Committee member N. Linn Hendershot said he has high hopes that the group's work will result in a more accessible county. "We are just trying to work with the architects, the builders and the people who do the streets and the sidewalks so we can prepare for the future," said Hendershot, public relations director of the Western Maryland Hospital Center.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Washington County Public Schools will be closed again Tuesday as road crews tackle their fourth day of cleaning up from Saturday's record snowfall, local officials said. They join other area school systems, including public schools in Frederick County, Md., and in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties in West Virginia, which all announced Tuesday closures. With a low of about 18 degrees predicted for Monday night, the National Weather Service warned that refreezing of snow and slush could lead to areas of black ice. A high of 35 degrees was predicted for Hagerstown on Tuesday.

Greencastle parents and bus drivers stood outside the entrance to a school board meeting at Greencastle-Antrim Middle School Thursday night holding signs that read: “No contractors.” Their peaceful protest was to encourage board members to vote against outsourcing 14 bus routes to contractors. “We don't want to lose our jobs. I've hauled kindergarten students long enough to see them graduate,” said Jackie Simmons, a school district bus driver and spokeswoman for the  drivers.

New traffic lights at the entrances to Smithsburg Elementary and Smithsburg High schools caused significant delays Wednesday on the first day of classes for Washington County Public Schools, and some students might have waited as long as 25 minutes for buses at the end of the day, school officials said. Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight said traffic was backed up about a half-mile on Leitersburg Smithsburg Road, and roughly three blocks on Geiser Way. "I just urge everyone to be patient," Knight said.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Driving a car around the Waynesboro area this summer has been a challenge. So imagine driving a school bus. Or worse yet, imagine the task of coordinating several dozen school buses through construction zones and around detours. Welcome to Missie's world. Missie Baer, maintenance and transportation coordinator for the Waynesboro Area School District for the last five years, is busy this time of year as she makes sure that more than 3,300 students have rides to and from the district's schools, and St. Andrew Catholic School.

This year, enjoy the gift of service to others To the editor: Give yourself a gift this year. Slow down and allow yourself to enjoy the gift of service to others. The cost is small, but the rewards are priceless. It will cost you some time, a loving heart, a listening ear, a gentle touch, willing hands and a desire to make this world a better place. We live in a world where the success of Christmas is measured by the sound of a clanging cash register. Money spent on gifts that will be welcomed with great anticipation and excitement, only to be forgotten and replaced by a desire for something new. By giving of ourselves in service to others without expecting payment in return, we find joy and contentment in knowing that we have touched lives and formed memories that will last a lifetime.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Washington County Public Schools will be closed again Tuesday as road crews tackle their fourth day of cleaning up from Saturday's record snowfall, local officials said. They join other area school systems, including public schools in Frederick County, Md., and in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties in West Virginia, which all announced Tuesday closures. With a low of about 18 degrees predicted for Monday night, the National Weather Service warned that refreezing of snow and slush could lead to areas of black ice. A high of 35 degrees was predicted for Hagerstown on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Washington County Public Schools students may continue to use school bus transportation to attend schools outside of their assigned attendance districts if they can board buses already en route to those schools. A vote Tuesday by the Washington County Board of Education continues a provision in the policy that, had it been allowed to expire, would have eliminated that privilege. The vote was 6-0 with board member William H. Staley absent. The school board approved a new transportation policy last year, and the section that allows students to be picked up or dropped off at locations other than their homes would have expired at the end of the school year without school board action.

HAGERSTOWN -- More than 40 people attended a public hearing Wednesday night on the planned closure of a one-way bridge on East Oak Ridge Drive. The planned five-month closure, which county officials say is needed to repair the historic stone-arch bridge in Funkstown, has riled area residents and shop owners who have said it will cause lengthy detours and hurt merchants who depend on traffic over the bridge for their business. In addition, concerns about how school bus routes will change during the closure and the volume of heavy trucks that will cross the bridge after it reopens also were discussed at Wednesday's hearing at E. Russell Hicks Middle School.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- For the last 12 years, the county's public bus system has used a noisy, dimly lit stretch of West Washington Street as its main transfer point. Riders have complained that it is unsafe and inconvenient to other parts of town. Business owners near Public Square in Hagerstown have said it routes too much bus traffic through the city's main intersection. And officials have said both riders and drivers deserve a nicer place to change routes. "It's just not working anymore," said Kevin D. Cerrone, director of the County Commuter.

Washington County public schools contacts: Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Morgan For questions regarding school system policies, academics, procedures or programs. 301-766-2816 morgabet@wcboe.k12.md.us Assistant Director of Human Resources Donna Newcomer For questions about employment with the Washington County Public Schools system. 301-766-2804 newcodon@wcboe.k12.md.us Chief Financial Officer Chris South For questions or concerns about the Washington County Board of Education's budgets, accounting, payroll or purchasing.

FUNKSTOWN - Denise McCoy missed a Baltimore Ravens pre-season game Monday night so she could hear the Funkstown town council's decision on the traffic problems plaguing her and other residents living on two town side streets. When she heard that the plan will be to make Chestnut and Poplar streets one-way just from High Street to Edgewood Drive, she wasn't sure that would be enough to curb the speeding. She also has her doubts the plan will decrease the sheer number of vehicles cutting through those previously quiet neighborhoods to avoid the Alt. U.S. 40 stoplights at certain times of day. "Anything will be better than nothing," McCoy said.