Schools considering bus routes, transportation safety

School Board Administrative Assistant Susan Griffith (foreground left) explains the school busing parameters to concerned parents at the meeting of the whole Wednesday night.

The distance limits for busing students to Mill Lawn and the high school have been set, but the actual routes still have to be nailed down, School Board Administrative Assistant Susan Griffith told parents at the School Board's special meeting of the whole Wednesday night. She urged parents to return the busing application slips that had been mailed to every student's household, so they could complete the process.

In the past, the School Board had not been following its own policy regarding busing limitations and had been providing bus service to students who lived inside the minimum distance. Due to budget limitations in this tight economy, Griffith told the audience, that will no longer be the case. Enforcing the policy will result in the elimination of at least one bus route. In order to receive bus service, high school/middle school students must live outside a radius of 1.5 miles from the YSHS building and Mills Lawn students must live outside a .75 mile radius from that building. Actual miles calculated by street travel will not be considered.

"The easiest way to do this was to measure the radius and draw a circle around each building," Griffith said.

She pointed out that the YS Schools policy is still more liberal than what the state requires.

Village Zoning Administrator Ed Amrhein talked about the progress the village has made in apply for funding from the National Safe Routes to School Program. The money, up to a quarter million dollars, could be used for such things as improving sidewalks, hiring crossing guards, marking cross walks and safe bike routes, and other items.

The initiative is concerned not only with the safety of children walking to school, but with the health benefits derived from the extra excersise, he said.

According to Amrhein, the village is halfway through the application process, but needs to partner with the schools and possibly other organizations for the application to be approved. There will be an organizational meeting at the beginning of the school year where volunteers will be solicited.

Parents who spoke at the meeting were concerned with the safety of their children walking to school, especially in cold and snowy weather and had many questions regarding those families who live just short of the required distance.

In response to questions about the availability of service to those who live just inside the radius and are near a bus stop, Griffith said, if the bus is not full, the child will be able to use the service. An application must be filed for special exceptions to be considered.

The bus routes will be posted in the YS News before the start of the school year. However, she said, they would probably be altered during the year, as they learned more about the demand. She urged parents to get the bus forms in so the routes could be set.

Update (8/11): We are not alone - DDN: Has your school bus service been cut?

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