On 9/5/2019 the Cortland Enlarged City School District rolled out a new transportation plan following a school merger that compromised the safety and security of the school's children. The new transportation plan lead to chaos and confusion among parents and caregivers and went even so far as to the misplacing of children and multiple calls to the Cortland County 911 system. 

In the midst of this chaos, calls to the school and bus garage went unanswered, and an automatic call indicating delays was sent out an entire hour after expected drop off times. This lead to problems with child care, parent's work, caused a burden to the 911 system, cost taxpayers additional money, and worse: multiple parents report children being traumatized by this event. 

This is entirely unacceptable and should be dealt with accordingly: with a call for IMMEDIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION on the part of the Cortland City School District. 

This petition calls the Cortland Enlarged City School District to rectify this issue immediately by utilizing the following methods: 

1. To create an emergency task force, whose sole purpose is to rectify the district's transportation issue and create a new, working plan. This task force should start immediately and consist of (at least) the following individuals or groups:

      A: School Administrators from all schools within the district, including principals and superintendent(s). 

      B: ALL individuals from the transportation department 

      C: Board of Education Members 

      D: PTA Members 

      E: Any and all parents and caregivers interested in contributing

      F: Representatives from local government at every level 

      G: Representatives from the Cortland City Police Department 

2. The hosting of a community forum within 14 days of this petition, with the following intent:

       A: To give an explanation to the public the events that took place on 9/5/2019 and outline elements that contributed to the system breakdown.

       B: To outline steps taken to rectify transportation system issues and the findings of the task force. 

       C: The presentation of a clear and concise description of the transportation plan and corrected elements of the plan. 

       D: The provision of a questions and answers segment in the forum where community members are permitted to bring questions and concerns. 

The forum will be hosted and put on by the school's administrators and board of education members, be held in a place suitable for a large audience, and be open to the public.  

The children of the Cortland Enlarged City School District are valuable and should be treated as such. We the parents/caregivers and concerned public of the district demand this corrective action to begin immediately and without delay or hesitation.