At a press conference today Superintendent Rocky Hanna addressed the LCS transportation crisis by saying “today I am angry.”
He announced that effectively immediately EDULOG would no longer be contracted to work with LCS on the bus system and that Manny Joanos will be removed from his position as head of LCS Transportation Services.
Hanna said that beginning Monday LCS will revert back to the bus system used during last year.
Hanna voiced his anger over not being informed about the problems that were known before the first day of school.
He said if he had been aware of the problems he could have made a decision that would have avoided the first day crisis.
Superintendent Rocky Hanna’s full statement:
I want to start today by once again apologizing to our community for the confusion, anxiety and stress that was created by the changing of our bus routes.
Two days ago I was disappointed and hurt, today I am angry. Monday, I made a promise that we would fix this and today we are announcing immediate changes and a plan to get us back on course.
Effective immediately LCS will no longer contract with EduLog to provide bus routing services. The system failure which occurred the week before the start of school and the chaos it has created for our students, parent and employees is completely unacceptable.
Considering this company serves school districts across the country including Hillsborough and Broward in Florida I should have been told a week ago that the implementation of their program in its current state would result in numerous problems on the first day of school. As a result I have lost all faith and confidence in their ability to help get our routes in order in a timely manner. These problems must be resolved and they must be resolved now.
That being said, as an immediate solution to our current situation beginning next Monday August the 19th we are reinstituting the bus stops we used last year. This immediate action will serve as a starting point as more routes and stops may be added in the future.
By Monday we will have most of our ESE and IB transportation issues resolved. Until then, we have set up a dedicated phone line and email address for our ESE families to use. We have more than 400 bus stops already routed but if you are an ESE family and need information please call 850-487-7818 or email ese transportation@leonschools.net
To address those parents who have concerns of hazardous walking conditions all stops from last year have been vetted, however, if you feel your student’s journey is still unsafe you can go to the transportation web site and fill out a hazardous walking condition appeal form.
Finally, Manny Joanas has been removed as Transportation Director and Mr. James Cole has been named the interim director.
BREAKING NEWS: Hanna Removes Joanos, EDULOG added by Steve Stewart on
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The system has been flawed for years. When we lived off of Chickasaw Trail LCS said my son had to walk 1 mile to his assigned bus stop. There was one that was closer, 2 minute walk time, but they said he could not be picked up there because he would have to cross a “busy street” to get there. We told them we would walk him there and crossing the street wouldn’t be an issue but LCS in all their wisdom still stated that they could not pick him from that bus stop. We now send our kids to a private school and will not be returning to any public education in Tallahassee.
I have no connection with this situation other than true concern for the safety of the children of Leon County Schools. As I watch this unfortunate bus routing situation unfold, it’s apparent to me that there was a disregard for the monumental scope of the process. Perhaps Manny Joanos didn’t need to vacation in Greece the entire month of June at the beginning of the summer, while the logistics were being worked out, assuring the Superintendent all along that it was being handled. Bus drivers, parents, etc. were in the dark and unable to have input or test drive their routes.
Rocky Hanna is a breath of fresh air in Leon County Schools. His compassion is beyond reproach.
Take the politics out of this situation and you’ll find that the real champion is Rocky. He owned this, and took immediate action to right the ship.
Manny Joanos is a full on Marxist. He has been on the public nipple his entire life. He wore a beret and a Che Guevarra shirt regularly. Jackie Pons is a hillbilly who is fortunate not to be in jail. Pons spends his days blogging on this forum instead of moving on. Leon County government needs a cleansing.
buck stops at the to pal! nice try! rocky! you should step down!
How was Joanos qualified for the job anyway? Was he hired just because of his political connection to Hanna?
What makes ME laugh is, WCTV did an article that you can NOT comment on where this is quoted: ………………. “I don’t understand why this wasn’t implemented with our drivers at the very beginning of Summer,” said Striplin” ……………….ALL of the School Board members Voted YES to this and SHE wants to know how this wasn’t implemented with our drivers at the very beginning of Summer?
I wonder if Manny has been keeping a notebook of all the goings on at LCS Hq?. He could give it to the FBI, and….wait, that’s already been done by Hanna. False allegations, an investigation that finds nothing, low information voters, and bingo, a new superintendent. Give it a try, Manny, it works.
Manny’s gonna be re-assigned
Why?
Because Manny’s not a “spring chicken”.
No Sir Manny’s been around years and years. Manny knows where all Hanna’s skeletons are buried.
Plus the public is aware Hanna should have gotten involved personally and provided 100% oversight on the EDULOG rollout. It is obvious Hanna was asleep at the wheel.
Manny’s odds at re-re-assignment?
100%
Even though Edulog inadvertently deleted the data containing the stops, the problem occurred well before this incident. The school board, superintendent, transportation director and any other personnel involved in the implementation of this system are responsible. There should have been transparency and invitations by LCS for input from the very people this would affect since their announcement last year. As parents, we were expecting updates as to EXACTLY how the transportation changes were going to be implemented, and how it would directly affect our families. We received no communication; only a reminder in the spring that courtesy stops were to be removed in the spring. How would parents know how to respond to the changes if we don’t even know what changes are to occur?
So after claiming the county couldn’t just go back to the old routes, we are just going back to the old routes. Here’s the problem: By eliminating the courtesy stops, Hanna REDUCED the bus driving staff (but gave raises to those who remained). The stop elimination and driver staff reduction was to offset the expensive cost of the routing software. This was all outlined in last year’s letter. Now, we are left with the scrapping of the hundreds of thousands worth of software, the need to hire more drivers (at a now higher rate) and bring back the eliminated stops. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this entire fiasco has ended up wasting several hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that, is squarely the fault of bad management by Rocky Hanna. Remember, Mr. “non-partisan” already wasted money by running busses and excusing students to go lobby for gun control on his behalf after the Parkland shootings. He cannot be voted out fast enough.
Don’t ever forget the kickbacks that you know for a FACT were paid for this contract!
Las Vegas LLC’s ?
I didn’t think anyone would ever beat the incompetence of the rollout of the Obamacare web site, but I think we can proudly claim Number 1 status with this fiasco.
This stinks. Someone needs to be fired!!
How could anybody think of reassigning or hiring the most incompetent Manny Joanos. If Rocky keeps him on he can count on losing more votes.
From the interview Rocky gave today sounds like Rocky put the Edulog system into play to save money.
As the saying goes it takes two to tango and I believe we have a scapegoat situation.
I would like to see a full investigative report because they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for this system as far back as 2008. It wasn’t being utilized and it sounds like Rocky is the one who set it into play.
What was the total amount spent on edulog over the years?
Edulog works in other counties so why wasn’t it put into play in 2008 when they paid over $300,000 for it and hundreds of thousands of dollars year after year after that? Didn’t Hanna say it was set to expire? Hanna keeps saying if he knew? It is his job to know so he either knew or if he didn’t he should have.
Manny isn’t one of The Usual Suspects so let’s offer Manny up as the sacrifice. Sorry , I am not buying it.
Ring! Ring!
“Marie Maddox. How can I help you?”
“Marie, this is Manny.”
Maven, don’t you know? Mattox doesn’t sue the school district anymore since she helped get Rocky elected. Remember the whistleblower cases against Pons? She and Rocky are “very good friends” according to Rocky.
Perhaps, Manny should file for whistleblower status and hire an attorney out of Miami.
Her firm does! We are suing for an incident last year involving my special needs grandson who was physically assaulted by a bus aid that had a felony record for assault and battery!
Kizzy, I stand corrected. And so sorry about your grandson – that is terrible. Did y’all get the bus camera footage of what happened?
How nice of Manny to fall on his sword for Hanna. Keep electing these fools, so glad I don’t have children in the Leon County Schools. Nothing is ever Rocky’s fault.
It was Rocky Hanna who called parents with the automated message Sunday evening and in that message, he reported that they were still having problems with the new bus system and asked for patience on the first day of school. He knew enough Sunday night; guess the buck really does not stop with him, as he claimed on Monday evening. My 10-year old child’s bus driver took him back to school at 5:30 pm and told the depot her bus was empty, without disclosing she had left students back at a closed elementary school. The routing and timing issues are just the beginning of the problem.
LCS, Please, please, please come into the 21st century and stop electing the most popular person to run the school system. Hire a professional who is the best fit for Leon County. Someone who is not from here and does not have an existing, dysfunctional network of cronies to serve.
Amen Pat. Amen.
So let me get this right.
1. Alva Striplin stated on the radio the bus drivers told the board this wouldn’t work.
2. The School board made the decision to go ahead and use EULOG ANYHOW. A plan that was in the works for over a year.
3. I personally saw buses in my neighborhood running their routes on Saturday. So they were testing routes that they knew couldn’t be covered in the time allotted.
But, Hanna still fires Joanos to prove what?
You don’t listen. Complaints to the county have been voiced for YEARS! The schools who are responsible for our kids refer them to a depot that doesn’t follow up on complaints, doesn’t return calls and even though the county wants you to think the buses are running at 30% capacity – my child has been forced to sit on the floor for being over capacity.
The Board and Supt contracted with this firm last year. They had plenty of time to run field tests. Manny is taking the fall so Rocky can save face. However, the old system worked and glad our bus drivers spoke up. Lesson learned: Supt and all his high paid staff must go in 2020.
Good comments Alex and everyone above.
STEVE STUART FOR LCS SUPERINTENDENT in 2020!
RUN STEVE RUN
RUN STEVE RUN
RUN STEVE RUN
Sadly they appear to just be recycled. You can do no wrong once your in. Even if your run against someone, I believe the fix is in. Even Ricky Bell.
Alex – AGREE 100%. Let us taxpayers FIRE Rocky & cohorts! MARK, I have been following your comments on ROCKY now I respect with more clarity in your assessment of him. Let’s us not allow this to happen to LCS students again, we as taxpayers need to stay on top of Rocky & cohorts for their COLLECTIVE FAILURE! Yes Rocky, do not expect to be superintendent after 2020! You are so FIRED by your bosses – TAXPAYERS!!!
I believe we need more information about who was behind this… follow the money.
Also, wasn’t the school-board told that it would affect a thousand students regarding the courtesy zone? They weren’t bothered by that.
Will Rocky fire himself and the school board, also?
Hard to believe that Manny was the sole decision maker. So exactly WHO all did know what as going on?
Manny got Gabordi’ed.
How long did it take for Rocky to find a bus to throw him under?
Gee Bullwinkle, I sure hope the members, senior staff, and whole Rocky crew can still make the Water Buffalo Pool Party on Amelia Island this weekend.
Can someone provide info into how the Tally Chamber is funded? For a community so full of democrats, its shocking how much white privilege and good ole’ boys surround that organization. From afar, really seems like they stifle competition, making it difficult for outsiders to compete, unless they pony up and become members of the country club.
I just wondering how they are funded and what portion of tax dollars got to fund that organization. But of course, this is impossible to find on the Tally Chamber website.
From their website, I see 518 registered for this weekend’s annual back-slapper at Amelia Island. With registration a whopping $595, that’s $308,210 right there. Plus the various-leveled sponsorships. Add in annual dues to all the member companies.
Plus any funding they get from the COT or the county, or elsewhere.
Not a bad gig, if you’re tired of selling used cars and want to move up the cronyism food chain.
NOTE: I do NOT see the Fake Newsocrat listed in any sponsor levels – my, how far they’ve fallen. That was such a big deal in the Gabordi regime.
Excellent reporting!