September 26, 2008

Schools eye busing for every student

A proposal to bus every schoolchild in town is likely to come before the Board of Education this winter.
Superintendent Philip Streifer said he intends to propose that beginning next fall, the district “bus all children” rather than making those who live within a mile or two hoof it.
Streifer said that many students are already bused and those who have to walk often do so in potentially dangerous conditions.
Citywide busing for all students “for safety reasons” would make it more likely that students come to school even in bad weather and arrive there without risking life and limb.
It’s not clear how much it would cost to bus everyone, but school officials have said that it might not cost more than the existing system that has walking and buses.
Dropping the requirement that students who live close to school walk would allow the district to stop clearing miles of sidewalks with tiny Bombardier snowplows and cease hiring scores of crossing guards.
The savings would cover much of the tab that extra buses would require, officials said.
Board of Education member Tom O’Brien said months ago that more busing isn’t necessarily more costly than having students walk even now.
He said the cost of paying crossing guards is rising so much that in a few years it will equal the tab for busing even if every student in town took a bus to school.
O’Brien said recently that residents should realize that few walk to school today.
More than 80 percent of the students at some schools are already bused, including those attending Memorial Boulevard Middle School and Bingham and Greene-Hills elementary schools.
Many of those who are supposed to walk are actually dropped off by parents, O’Brien said.
Officials have frequently decried the large number of cars surrounding schools because parents are dropping off or picking up students, adding to the congestion and danger.
“A very small percentage of students walk,” O’Brien said.O’Brien said that at some schools, such as O’Connell Elementary, more children walk from the neighborhood.
But, he said, there are safety and traffic issues there that worry administrators.
Streifer said that he saw last winter how children have to navigate sidewalks that aren’t shoveled or non-existent, traipsing along in the street to get to class or to go home.
Streifer said that it isn’t safe the way things are.
Moreover, he said, some students simply stay home when the weather is bad because of the hazards of walking. That slices into badly needed instructional time, Streifer said.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

This kills me. Wasn't there just a meeting with parents complaining about having their children walk to and from school? I even brought it up at my son's orientation at Memorial Boulevard school before they started and got a CURT "he's a walker" even though we are right under the 1.5 mile mark and the bus goes right past my house. I am one of the parents dropping my son off every morning and picking him up every afternoon due to having to walk through 3 intersections with no crossing guards and we are just under the 1.5 mile mark (leaving work early and then going back). Now they are complaining about the cars because of the parents dropping off their kids? and it may be a good idea to bus every student which they are planning to do with the new "mega schools" ANWAY!!! Unbelievable. This should have been taken care of a long time ago.

Anonymous said...

Ya sure, put the retired fixed income crossing guards outta business, this way they can sit home and rot. Hey, why not have Limo's, Champagne and Strawberries waiting for the kids as well? Hey, what about Caddies to carry their book bags around too, since they weigh 35 freakin pounds!! What a crackpot this guy is. And how much are we paying him again?? Nevermind, I don't want to know.

Anonymous said...

I think you made a big point there. Their bookbags DO WEIGH a ton and they shouldn't have to walk 1.5 miles some days in snow and rain with that heavy bookbag to get there when we can bus them. What's your problem with children being bussed - the comment about limo's, champagne and strawberries was ridiculous as it was stupid.

Anonymous said...

THis Striefer is out of his mind. Get him out of Bristol quick, please

Anonymous said...

THis Striefer is out of his mind. Get him out of Bristol quick, please

Anonymous said...

1:43, My problem is hat I live on the same street as the school, so why would my kids need to take a bus? It's a waste of money. If anything, maybe they should consider lowering it from 1.5 miles to 3/4 mile or something. But I don't think ALL students need to be bussed

Anonymous said...

I thought the school budget was already in a negative. Who is going to pay for this?

Anonymous said...

I thought the champagne comment was right on. It wouldn't hurt kids and their parents who live nearby to walk to school. And if teachers did more work with the kids, the kids wouldn't have those heavy bookbags. Fewer days off, and fewer teacher development days (which are actually days off), so that kids can actually get in a routine of going to school. There are too many disruptions. It's hard to tell the difference between November and July, except the leaves are off the trees in November.

Anonymous said...

the whole boe is a joke they just want to spend spend spend. i drive and pick up my child from south side school. she does'nt need to take a bus. i would much rather do that then put her on a bus with drivers that i really don't trust behind the wheel. getting rid of the crossing guards is not right changing the boe panel is right.

Anonymous said...

The administrators seem to have Tom O'Brien in their back pocket.

Anonymous said...

Increased busing = Increased Obesity

Anonymous said...

Schools HAVE TO povide bussing under certain conditions.

Students DO NOT have to take the busses.

Case closed.

Anonymous said...

Remember the days when the BOE was appointed? The majority of the electorate voted to have members elected rather than appointed. Live with what the majority wanted.

"You get what you deserve."

Anonymous said...

Glad we spent all that money on new sidewalks around the city so that kids could walk to school if they were close enough.

Busing has its place but busing everyone? Come on?

This is just another example of spending money the city doesn't have.

Anonymous said...

10:37, The switch from an appointed BOE to an elected BOE was sparked by a flap over sports eligibility. No BOE, appointed or elected, is going to please all of the people all of the time.

Anonymous said...

The city HAS the money, Ward just hasn't gotten it out of your pockets yet!

Anonymous said...

Once again the BOE flies in the face of the City Plan - that is to develop a "walkable and a pedestrian friendly" community.

If 20% of the students now walk, why should the taxpayers pay the extra expense to have them bused
thereby creating more air pollution, more greenhouse gases, more risk of cancer and lung disease for all of us. Why are the increased obesity rates in children being ignored?
Too many kids are FAT.
Walking is healthy and creates healthy brains which improves learning.

If the sidewalks need repair, if intersections need reconfiguration, if pedestrian links to the school need improvement, then we should fix them, rather than abandon our streets. If it gives an older person a chance to interact and safeguard his community ---- so what! It's worth its weight in petro dollars and policeman.

The demarcation line between "busing and walking" need not be a hard and fast rule, but evaluated in terms of topography, and city infrastructure and neighborhood.

Streets and sidewalks are the very nature of a city. People using the streets means more eyes on the streets. More eyes on the streets means SAFER streets and SAFER neighborhoods. This is priceless in terms of maintaining property values.

This issue needs to come before the planning board and the public works department.
This decision (to put every child on a school bus) is really a "community development policy" and needs to be viewed in that context, not exclusively through narrow biases and views of the BOE.
There is a broader context.

It is not the sole purvue of the school board and the school administrator to determine this policy.

Seems that were dealing with narrow minded spendthrifts.
On one hand the BOE laments that they can't fund a free school lunch, on the other hand they want to stick every kid on a bus, and spend an extra $30 million to build new schools rather than completely renovate the ones we already have.

Given the economic meltdown, the recession, the inflation in prices for basic commodities, a taxpayer REVOLT is in order.

Anonymous said...

Case closed = brain closed.

Anonymous said...

i'll be damed if the boe is going to tell me that i have to put my kid on a bus. never going to happen i will continue to drive her. why have these members not been voted out of the boe yet? change the whole panel they are useless.

Anonymous said...

Like I said, we should make a huge Quincy Market sorta place down at the old mall site...then all the fat kids can have the bus bring them there everyday after school. Pathetic