Anna Maria Elementary students get to keep their seats on the bus

Anna Maria Elementary’s eight “hardship” bus riders have gotten a special reprieve from Superintendent Diane Greene and can continue to get a bus ride home off the island for the rest of the school year.

But Greene warned parents in a Nov. 17 letter that certain conditions apply, including students may have to sit three to a seat. Also, an additional 30 to 45 minutes will be added to the trip, and that could stretch even longer during tourist season.

The students, all of whom live off the island but are attending the school via choice, had received letters from the School District of Manatee on Nov. 2, informing them that their transportation on Bus 668 from the school back onto the mainland was being cut off on Nov. 8 because of their status as hardship students.

There was no indication the superintendent’s decision would extend to any of the other roughly 600 hardship students in the district.

Hardship applies to students who are enrolled at a district school via choice, not via attendance zone, but were not enrolled during the choice enrollment period.

The bus cut-off, which was introduced as a way to combine two bus routes to deal with a shortage of bus drivers, was later extended to after the Thanksgiving holiday.

But now Greene has informed the parents of the eight that their children will be permitted to ride Bus 668 for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year.

“Due to combining two school buses, students may have to seat three to a seat,” Greene wrote. “Our routing system confirms an additional 30 to 45 minutes will be added to the route, however, during tourist season, the route may experience longer delays due to island traffic.”

Greene also advised the parents they must apply for choice March 5-16, 2018 to continue bus service to Anna Maria Elementary.

“If you don’t qualify for choice to Anna Maria, no bus service will be provided for hardship students starting with the 2018-19 school year.”

At first, Katie O’Connor, whose son, Quinton, is one of the eight Anna Maria Elementary students, called it a “small victory.”

But then, after she began to think about the extra time on the bus that came with the trade-off, she decided she doesn’t want him to ride the bus after all. She is making other arrangements.

“My son rode home with a friend yesterday, as I didn’t want him to be on the bus for an extra 45 minutes after school,” O’Connor said.

It was not immediately known how many of the remaining seven students will be riding for the extra time.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Anna Maria Elementary students get to keep their seats on the bus."