Parents panic over NCSD transportation for students in child care centers

Transportation services were believed to be unavailable this year for Newton students who are also enrolled in child care services at Peck Child Development Center and Newton Early Learning Academy, but pushback from parents have forced the district to find a solution and even rethink its policies moving forward.

Several of the parents whose kids attend the local child care centers were at the Newton school board meeting this past Monday night. Hilary Foster, a Newton resident who frequents school board meetings, spoke on behalf of herself and the other Cardinal families who were “blindsided” by the district’s decision.

“I’ve been to all but a couple of meetings over the past 15 months and never once do I recall any discussion whatsoever about doing away with bus services for either Peck or the Newton Early Learning Academy,” Foster said. “…Please, please, please explain why services were cut and cut without communicating.”

Newton Community School District has provided transportation services to daycare centers for a number of years. Foster said both Peck and NELA had received transportation services during the 2023-2024 school year. She and the rest of the affected Cardinal families demanded answers school officials.

Specifically, Foster questioned if decisions were made outside of school board meetings, possibly suggesting it could be a violation of open meetings laws.

“The board constantly talks about open, honest and transparent communication yet failed horribly here,” Foster said. “We moved our children from an in-home provider to Peck before our oldest started kindergarten just for transportation. My husband and I work in Des Moines and are dependent on transportation.”

Superintendent Tom Messinger addressed the issue a number of times in the meeting after Foster’s open forum comments. He often referred to the student school transportation eligibility policy that states students living more than one mile from their school are entitled to transportation to and from the district.

However, there are some exceptions. According to a regulation of that same policy, transportation services may be given to individuals inside that one-mile radius if the posted speed limit of a street is over 35 mph or if there is a lack of sidewalks. Students are also required to board the bus at designated pick-ups.

YMCA’s child care center is specifically listed in the policy as a pick-up point. Messinger said other child care locations were not mentioned in the policy. He understood why families were frustrated, but he said in recognition of the situation those families are in, transportation will be allowed at Peck and NELA.

The only exception is for students at Peck who are enrolled at the nearby Emerson Hough Elementary School, which is 0.2 miles east of the childcare center. Those students will have to either find other means of transportation or have Peck staff walk with them to and from the childcare facility.

Communications from Peck confirm this change, and it will require parents to bring their children in by 7:45 a.m. at the latest to be walked to school. In the event of inclement weather, Peck said it is the responsibility of the parents or guardians to get their children to and from school.

Messinger said in addition to providing transportation to the two childcare centers for the 2024-2025 school year, he will ask the school board to re-examine current school board policy closely to determine if there are necessary revisions that can be made. He wants to look at all aspects of transportation issues.

“Issues such as in-home child care and traditional child care facilities should be taken into account as well,” Messinger said.

School board members will get to re-examine the policies during the Aug. 26 meeting. Any change in board policy requires two readings before it is adopted. Messinger went on to say he is not a fan of changing policies often, because he argued they can confuse families and create wrong perceptions.

“Regardless of what the intent was when the board policy was written by the policy committee, there are a lot of different perceptions that are out there,” he said. “And I think we need to make sure that we have it cleared up exactly what the purpose behind it is and (we’re) forming that common understanding.”

Robyn Friedman, chair of the Newton school board, said it was her understanding the board discussed the YMCA’s inclusion on the policy as strictly a pick-up point and not so much because of its role as a child care center. She said the board never discussed not including other child care centers.

“We really didn’t discuss it in that way,” Friedman said. “The callout about us leaving something out intentionally I don’t think was ever part of our intention.”

Monica Pritchard, transportation supervisor, clarified YMCA was never a pick-up point. It was just like Peck and NELA, she said, in that it provided transportation for students enrolled in child care. Pritchard called the issue with Peck and NELA a “misunderstanding” and that another look at board policies might help.

“As any supervisor of any center or any business it is our job to make sure we’re not doing something as we always did it,” Pritchard said. “So, I mean, this is good. This needs to be done. And like you said, maybe then you have to open it up to not just other businesses besides the Y. Maybe you open it up to more.”

Pritchard noted it would make things a little more challenging for the Newton school district’s transportation department.

“We want to get kids to school,” she said. “We’re not trying to get parents from not being able to get their kids to school. If I could transport everybody I would.”

Friedman also welcomed the idea of the board discussing its policies further at the next meeting. In her mind, the more access to transportation the better, provided it is reasonable to do so. She agreed with Messinger’s argument that the policy should look at other aspects of child care.

“It makes a lot more sense instead of naming out each specific place it now becomes a ‘daycare center’ or an ‘in-home center,’ etc.,” Friedman said. “We need to have a way to marry those couple things. This has gotten a little messier but was never intended for it to be messy on our side.”