Paterson parents concerned about busing Public School No. 3 students while building undergoes repairs
PATERSON, N.J. -- A second meeting was held in Paterson on Tuesday to update parents from Paterson Public School No. 3 on what's in store for their children once the school year starts.
Families still don't know logistics of how students will be bused to their temporary schools while School No. 3 is being repaired.
Parents listened intently through headphones that translated Tuesday night's Paterson School District meeting.
"Upsetting," said Jennifer Lindo, with the Michael Wagner after-school program.
All 302 students from School No. 3 will start the school year in a different building due to a ceiling collapse that happened in July.
"Once the ceiling collapsed, I told the team, we need to just lock up the entire building," Paterson Superintendent Dr. Laurie Newell said.
"Thankfully, thank God, this happened while the students weren't in the building," Sebastian Mejia said.
Families worry the 124-year-old building was neglected.
"If the school was being inspected how it should be, how did you guys not notice this? Why did we wait until the last minute when the ceiling collapsed?" School No. 3 alumna Linda Rodriguez said.
A district official said, "Over the last three years, we've spent over $500,000 doing just that. Looking at the ceilings, repairing the ceilings. We were slated to fix two classrooms this summer and also put in a bathroom in that school. We didn't expect on the first floor that the ceilings would fall."
Grades K-2 will be walking less than half mile to Dale Avenue School. Grades 3-8 will board a bus at School No. 3 then head to MLK Public School, and one special education class will go to School 28.
Parents are concerned about busing.
"A lot of parents in the community don't have a car, so if their kids are sick, how are they going to get to the school to pick up their children?" parent Erica Escobar said.
The timetable to fix the ceiling is still unclear.
"We're thinking four months, five months, but we don't know. It could be January. We really don't know," Newell said.
The district has yet to sign a busing contract. Bidding for transportation starts Wednesday. The goal is to choose a vendor as soon as possible. Next Tuesday's meeting will be the last one before school starts.