Buses roll as classes open
BUTLER TWP — School buses finally carried Butler Area School District students to class Tuesday morning.
Tuesday was the district's first day of class after problems with school bus routing software caused the start to be delayed from last Thursday.
At McQuistion Elementary, students arrived to find upgrades in their hallways and in an outdoor space.
The school's new principal, Carrie Morgan-Davis, said that drop-off went smoothly. Morgan-Davis switched over this year from a job as assistant principal at Butler Intermediate High School.
“It's been a great day,” Morgan-Davis said. “The kids are excited to be here, and the teachers are excited to get the year started.”
As the final buses of the day dropped off students, Superintendent Brian White offered an update on the situation in a phone interview.
He said the district still is sorting through numerous parent requests for changes to the bus routes and pickup points used on Tuesday, but that school bus drivers managed to make things work.
“There's a lot of tweaking that still needs to occur,” White said.
The school district's solicitor is reviewing the district's contracts with Verzatranz, the software company responsible for mapping bus routes, White said.
“It was far less than ideal, but we were able to have school today,” White said.Once students arrived Tuesday morning, Morgan-Davis led a few kindergartners through the school's new sensory walk, a hallway that has been decorated with special decals to make a playground-like path for students to expend extra energy. Similar installments went in at all the district's schools this summer.“We've probably had 20 kids make good use of it already today, and we're in the first half of the day,” Morgan-Davis said.Casey Sarvey, a learning support teacher for the school, said she saw students using the walk already, even when just walking to the bathroom.“The sensory walk can be good for any kiddo (who) might need a break or might need to wake up a little,” Sarvey said.Some children in the school have a “sensory diet,” she said, and need a certain amount of sensory activity each day to stay engaged in class. Many children with autism or emotional-support needs benefit from it, she said.Morgan-Davis, Sarvey and other various faculty members in the district — including Pamela Neely Aldridge, Staci Kelly and Julie Chwalik — helped install the decals.
In the school's center, an open-air courtyard also got a face-lift.The green space has new tables with attached umbrellas for outdoor classes. New weather monitoring equipment was brought in for science classes, and art teacher Jill Widenhofer painted a mural. Widenhofer also painted hands on the walls of the sensory walk for students to use for wall pushups.The courtyard upgrades were funded by donations from the Arconic Foundation, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the school's parent-teacher organization.
