Please note that some questions and comments may not be suitable for this public page. Please read the Question/Comment Submission Rules thoroughly before submitting a question or comment to this site.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Concerns about cold-weather busing

Question: I think its wonderful that the school is trying hard to stretch a dollar, but I have concerns about the new bus policy for in-town kids. What happens in bitterly cold winter weather when the children are left standing a half a block away from their homes waiting on the bus to pick them up? There are no shelters in place and in previous years I would allow my little ones (primary school age) to sit in the house while I watched for the bus. On some days buses can run upwards of 20-30 minutes late. I feel that this amount of time is way too long for kids to be left unprotected in the harsh winter elements. Being an easy-going person I am rolling with the change, but am also concerned about the increased personal vehicle traffic to the schools on bitter cold days -- after speaking with my neighbors, we all decided we would rather take our children to school on those days than allow them to sit outside when conditions aren't suitable.
What plans does the school have to remedy the situation?

Answer: I understand your dilemma. However, the Board of Education felt that its decision to eliminate door-to-door pick-up in the village was a healthy compromise between raising taxes and eliminating all pick-up within two miles of the district -- they were being responsive to district taxpayers.

Obviously, Broadalbin-Perth can't control the weather. We can't even control when or how well the sidewalks in the village are cleared of snow. We can only control the bus schedule -- and we apologize for the delay in finalizing that. Until a bus picks up your child, you are responsible for your child. If you feel that it is in your family's best interest for you to drive your child to school on cold, snowy days, that's your decision. However, the district encourages parents within a neighborhood to work together to come up with a solution that meets their families' needs.
- answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

No comments:

Post a Comment