Inside Report for May 1, 2008

• By PATRICK COURREGES
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: May 1, 2008 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Lafayette Parish school system is swimming into waters that dropped off more quickly and deeply than anyone foresaw the last time it was tried — overhauling bus routes in its transportation system.

Prior to 2005’s double dose of hurricanes, the most-noted disaster in Lafayette Parish could well have been the 2004 attempt to remake the school transportation system.

A new transportation director came in earlier in the year, and the system implemented a plan to make the routes more efficient to try and hold the line on a transportation budget that was nearly doubling.

What resulted was widely adjudged a debacle, with students not getting picked up and buses arriving at schools late, and the problems continued for weeks into the school year, prompting, among other things, a failed push to hire a private firm to handle busing in the parish and the eventual firing of Transportation Director Daniel Michel.

Various theories about what went wrong were forwarded, ranging from bad information used in the computers that set up the routes to drivers either feeling they were not consulted for information that could have helped the situation or being accused of intentionally acting to make sure the plan failed.

The system reverted to what amounted to a moderately tweaked version of the plan that had been used prior to the 2004 overhaul, but the administration and board members made clear that they wanted something done to halt the increases in transportation spending.

Part of that plan involved rehiring former Transportation Director Bill Samec, who served in the role for several years before working in the private sector.

Samec is preparing a new transportation plan and has said that he is well aware of what went wrong last time and does not intend for that to happen again.

For starters, instead of trying to revamp and implement the plan in the course of one summer break, he has been building up to the change over the course of two years.

Samec and school system CEO Billy Guidry began some tightening of routes before the 2007-08 school year and began sounding out drivers for ideas.

Samec said his staffers have already run an initial set of routes through Transportation Department computer routing programs and began the process of checking those routes to make sure they actually work in the real world.

Samec said bus drivers will also be test running some of the new routes to pick the ones they wish to work, a process he wants completed before the last bell of this school year.

The routes will also include an couple of ideas that came from the ranks of bus drivers — shifting back to having drivers make double runs where feasible and creating one more round of school opening and closing bell times.