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<< Previous   of   Next >> Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Anne Nelson walks down Larch Way with her children Callie, 6, and Ryan, 9, after picking them up from Martha Lake Elementary School on Friday. The Edmonds School District suspended school bus routes within a mile of its schools. Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Anne Nelson turns onto 164th Street with her children after picking them up from school at Martha Lake Elementary School on Friday.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, September 14, 2009 Budget cuts kick kids off bus and to the curb Edmonds schools force 3,000 students off buses to save money By Kaitlin Manry Herald Writer LYNNWOOD — Andrew Adams used to ride a yellow bus to school. This year, if he wants to join his classmates at Hilltop Elementary, the 7-year-old must walk 1 1/2 miles up and down hills, by a 7-Eleven store, along busy Lynnwood roads — some with no sidewalks. He is among the 3,000 students in the Edmonds School District whose bus routes were eliminated over the summer to save the district $500,000 a year. Bus service was cut to all children who live within a mile radius of their school. Some of those kids, like Andrew, must walk farther than a mile because roads don’t provide a direct route from home to school. As school started last week, families scrambled to figure out how to get their children to school safely. Some studied maps on the district’s Web site and found walking routes they were comfortable with. Some drove their kids to school or to nearby bus stops. Some hired childcare workers to get their kids to class. Andrew’s parents, Dick and Jane Adams, decided to pull him out of public school and enroll him in an online, home school program. They had considered home schooling before, but say the busing situation pushed them over the edge. “We had four kids go through Hilltop,” said Dick Adams, a traffic engineer. “We like the school and enjoy the teachers. We wanted him to go there because some of his friends go there, but we don’t want to deal with the safety issues. ... The roads he’d have to walk are very busy regional roadways.” Since the busing plan was announced in June, around 1,000 parents have called district headquarters to ask questions or complain, said Craig Christensen, director of transportation. The district mailed several notices to parents over the summer, notifying them of the change, and automated calls went out to the 2,500 affected families, district spokeswoman DJ Jakala said. District employees followed up and personally called hundreds of parents to make sure they had plans in place to get their kids to school, she said. “There’s not one person in the school district who enjoys doing this — from the school board on down to my bus drivers,” Christensen said. “It tears at our heartstrings, but we’re in historic times. As a public servant, sometimes I have to make choices that just make me sick — and this is one of those situations.” Facing an $11.5 million budget shortfall, the school board voted in August on the busing changes and around 40 other cuts. The state pays districts to bus students who live outside of a 1-mile radius of their school. For years, the district had been spending local taxpayer money to fill in the gaps and transport kids who live less than a mile from school. An issue in other districts Several other local school districts, including Marysville, Everett and Seattle, don’t bus kids who live within a mile of school, but those districts make exceptions for kids who live in areas where traffic is deemed unsafe. State budget cuts and declining enrollment have led the Stanwood-Camano School District to reduce bus transportation for some students this year. The district no longer picks up about 50 middle and high school students who live within a mile of schools where sidewalks and crosswalks are available. Secondary school students living on dead-end roads that are less than a mile long now must meet the bus at the main road. Stanwood projects to save about $57,000 with the cuts. “We will continue to provide transportation for elementary students with local funds,” said Michael Olson, assistant superintendent of operations. “However, as costs for providing this service continue to rise, we may need to address this in future years.” Edmonds families adjust In Edmonds, some parents see the need to cut bus routes. Anne Nelson understands that the district is in a tough spot financially, and doesn’t mind driving 6-year-old Callie and 9-year-old Ryan to school. She didn’t want her children walking along 164th Street, past a coffee kiosk with bikini baristas. Since she is a stay-at-home mom, she had the flexibility to shuttle her kids. Her children’s school, Martha Lake Elementary, is one of three that has eliminated busing all together. Martha Lake’s start and end times were pushed forward by a half-hour to help parents transition to the no busing policy, and Nelson appreciates that. “I just try to look at it with a really positive attitude,” she said. “You gotta do what you gotta do. If it was affecting my kids differently and I wasn’t able to take them, I may feel very differently.” Leigh Hess does work outside the home and, for her, figuring out how to get her daughters to and from school was a headache. She lives across the street from the Adamses, and didn’t want her girls walking along busy roads unsupervised. The plan she eventually worked out involves driving them to and from various friends’ homes, so they can walk a shorter distance with people they know. “I just can’t randomly choose someone from their classrooms to trust with the lives of my children,” Hess said. To Dick Adams, the new busing plan is an accident waiting to happen. He worked as a traffic engineer for the city of Lynnwood for 10 years, spent eight years with the state Department of Transportation and now works as a traffic engineer for a Seattle company. He said the Edmonds School District used to run proposed walking routes by city and county officials, who would work to make sure the routes were safe. Sometimes they’d add sidewalks, or recommend that the district hire more crossing guards. “The process is not a month-long process,” he said. “You need longer than that to make sure each of these walk routes are as safe as they can be.” Christensen said he wasn’t able to follow the usual steps because of the severity of the district’s budget problems and the need to make changes by the start of school. “It’s a fair observation from him, but these are historic times that the school district hasn’t experienced in the past,” he said. “So we’ve had to make those changes. And I’ll be honest with you, we don’t like it either.” Herald reporter Eric Stevick contributed to this story. On the Web To learn more about the Edmonds School District’s new busing policy and to find suggested walking routes to school, go to the district’s Web site at www.edmonds.wednet.edu and click on Transportation Information. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out (No heading) The buses in Everett have apparently not started this yet, because they literally stop every block to let children off. Come on, let the kids walk a few blocks - it's probably the only excercise they'll get all day! Elle None | Sep 17, 2009 9:57 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Poor babies! I hate to sound like the old geezer that drones about how when I was a boy we "walked 10 miles to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways!", but the pathetic nature of how overprotected our fat, lazy kids have become is reflected in the tone of this article. I clearly remember walking or riding my bicycle as far as 2 miles as early as the second grade. Of course back then our parents had enough concern for the survival of their gene pool to make sure we weren't so stupid as to walk down the middle of the street as can be seen in Lake Stevens even where sidewalks exist. Really, if you want to do your "designer" children a huge favor in the long run, make them walk, regardless of budgetary constraints. They'll be healthier, more self reliant and the savings just may go to funding something a little more germane to the education agenda. JD Blackwell | Sep 14, 2009 11:16 am | 2 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal The REAL picture -- no curb, no path, no safe passage The picture with this article is really misleading. I'd be happy to have my kids and their friends walk to school if they had SAFE passage - curbs and sidewalks. Unfortunately these are the the streets the kids are expected to walk ON. select street view to see the picture) http://www.geocodezip.com/example_geo_streetview.asp type in the following addresses 20400 cypress way, 98036 or 20400 locust way, 98036 LeeAnn Schroth | Sep 15, 2009 11:55 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Nice Pic... That is a Picture that is worth 1000 words. Mom Happy, kids full of joy and Rover on a happy walk on the way to class... Lets fast forward to January when the wind is blowing and the rain is pounding. Days are shorter and tempers are equally as short. Do ya think this family will be just as happy to walk the distance? Mike Flavin | Sep 14, 2009 12:17 am | 2 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) I lived in NYC for a short time and only way for us to get to school was either get a ride or walk,i was 8 years old and walked 2 miles 5 days a week and i loved it,till this day i still love to walk,i think this is a money saver and wouldn't hurt the kids and hey guess what their parents too could maybe walk with them,if they don't want the kids to walk then drive them.Walking is a wonderful way for parent and child to talk about things,get closer,ya know the thing ya don't do cause parents have such a busy life,there are many ways a child can protect themselves from bad guys,like walking in groups,or maybe the parents can enroll the child in some safety classes,a child is no safer on a bus i can tell you this,the min they walk off that bus anything can happen Denise None | Sep 14, 2009 3:02 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Do you like this? Then support Tim Eyeman's latest Do you like seeing cuts such as cutting transportation for students within 1 mile of school? Would you like to see deeper cuts? If so, vote for Tim Eyeman's I-1032 this November. Just think about what you can use your saved tax dollars on: * Appropriate clothes and boots for your child walking to school in winter. * Reflective vests so your child can be seen in the dark and rain. * Co-pays for the doctor because of the resulting colds and injuries. So, vote "yes" to make these cuts permanent. Bob Chapman | Sep 14, 2009 1:10 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Safety of Our Children With the increase of child abductions and the attempt of many to lure our children in to cars, yes by all means lets limit the bus rides to school. That makes total sense. Yea Right!!!! If you look at most child abductions, they happen within blocks of the childs home. Today, either both parents have to work or you have single parents that have to leave prior to their childs school times. I am fortunate, my husband works nights and is home all day, but so many do not have this type of safety net for your child. I am so sick of hearing of children being abducted, raped, and killed and our dollars being taken away to increase ways to bring harm. God help those in government if one of the children are abducted due to dollar cuts. They will sit there and say why my child, why indeed???? Sheryl Moss | Sep 14, 2009 12:03 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Ask why! Why are schools all over the nation cutting back on services and programs? B/C the Federal Government and the State Governments are broke. Why is that? Remember the Bush tax cuts for people making $1,000,000 and more per year? There is your answer. The next time a politician tells you that tax cuts for the rich will be JUST what the middle class needs, rememebr this kind of consequnce.....but most likely they'll forget again....and then tell us how the "tax and spend" Liberals are bad for the country. Maybe they're not as bad as the TAX-CUT and SPEND Republicans! Since most in Snohomish County voted for Bush and his tax cuts, I don't have a problem at all letting their kids walk to school....maybe they can "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and be just like the Bushes! Linton Dawson | Sep 14, 2009 11:45 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Lack of bussing on unsafe roads The use of "as the crow flies" to judge the 1 mile radius for kids to walk to school is ridiculous. I agree that we need to take care of the budget but, this winter when the ice and slush is moved from the street onto the walking path (not sidewalks) there will be no place for the children to walk. Most of our roads in unincorporated Snohomish county do not have sidewalks. This should have been taken into consideration the roads around the school are not the ones grated and sanded in the winter. It will be hazardous for these kids not to mention the daily speeding down Larch Way. I wish the picture would have been taken on one of the roads mentioned above. Very few have the sidewalk that is pictured. Watch out for our kids! J Warren | Sep 14, 2009 11:18 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Edmond's Busing The Edmond's School District saves $500,000 on busing. One child injured walking or crossing a busy street because of the lack of busing will cost the district far more than the $500,000 they saved by cutting the buses. Do they even have crossing guards along the way? Dan Lentz | Sep 14, 2009 7:28 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Home Schooling Because Bus Routes Cut Give me a break!! So they elected to start home schooling because they no longer had bus transportation. This means a parent is home all day with the child. Give him a ride or better yet, walk with him and get some exercise in the morning and afternoon. Bill Brown | Sep 14, 2009 8:16 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal School bus Maybe the school board or the adminstration should or could of cut some money from the $100 million dollar high school, so that kids could be safe going to school, seems a little ironic that we can afford to build a MONUMENT to some school board members or admininastrators egos, but can not provide enough money to bus kids safely to school Once again goverment at it's finest! mike todd | Sep 14, 2009 8:11 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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