If you've read this site for any reasonable length of time, you're probably aware that I have some issues related to pedestrian safety and school transportation. I know more than a few people, particularly those in the townships, don't get it, and I have to admit it was only once I lived in the borough and experienced it daily that I realized just how unsafe it can be to walk through town. I also learned what we did across the district regarding busing and walkers in my capacity of handling transportation at the school from 1998 to 2000 when the current Middle School/soon to be Intermediate School opened.
Last night my wife and I attended a meeting for parents of children who will be attending the new Intermediate School (the current Middle School) located on Tatamy road in Upper Nazareth Township.
What we learned is that children who live north of Bushkill and south of Lower Nazareth will be picked up on the current k-5 bus runs, transported to their school, and they will get on a bus at the school to take them to the Intermediate School.
Those students who live north of Lower and south of Bushkill will be picked up by the buses transporting students from the two schools to the Intermediate School.
When no mention was made of Shafer students, despite my knowing not to do it, I had to ask if the students who walk would be bused now that the school they attend is in another municipality and they can't walk along Tatamy Road to get to it and if not will the crossing guards have their time extended to help these students.
The answer was no and yes. The answer was that all borough residents live within 1.5 miles of Shafer so that is the bus stop (my term, not the school's, as they refer to this as walkers who are shuttled). I did note that in no other municipality do we group children at a central spot and bus them.
Bottom line is that Borough students who attend the intermediate school could be bused from locations near their home just as we do for those in Lower, Upper, Bushkill, Tatamy and Stockertown, and the school district would be reimbursed by the state because Tatamy Road is a hazardous route, but the District refuses to do so.
Since these kids have always walked it will stay that way.
The district claims it has fair and equitable transportation, but apparently that only applies outside the borough of Nazareth.
For example, in Lower Nazareth the district took the crossing guard away and thereby all students who lived across from the school were bused and the school was reimbursed even though they were well within 1.5 miles, had a crosswalk and had signage with flashing lights and a reduced speed limit during opening and closing bell times.
Since these buses are coming in from Bushkill and Lower, not to mention the Shafer students who are bused, why not also pick up the kids in the borough?
I'd be surprised to learn that students in municipalities other than Nazareth Borough are required to walk a full mile to a mile and a half to get their bus each morning. Try walking from Rite Aid or Pizza Hut to Shafer between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. Then imagine doing it by yourself as a five to twelve year old, especially in weather like we had this past week.
This isn't about doing anything special, it is about being equitable.
5 comments:
It was your decision to live in the borough. You indicated in the past that your wife was a stay at home mom. Simple solution is to have her drive your kids to school or move out of the borough.
I'm not trying to be harsh, but a few years ago you kept ranting about how many parents dropped their kids off at school instead of letting them take the bus and how it made for half-empty buses and wasted taxpayers dollars.
If Nazareth decides to have bus routes for in-town students, how many kids will take the bus on nice 70 degree days? How about during the early release days when it is snowing and kids want to walk and play in the snow? How many kids will take the bus to school on cold rainy mornings but walk home when the afternoon warms up and the rains stops?
I think you miss the point. I have no problem with walking when the school is located in the borough.
The intermediate school is in Upper Nazareth Township and there is no safe way to walk to it from the borough as Tatamy Road has been declared Hazardous by the state along with 191/East Lawn Road.
What the district has done is created a single bus stop for the entire borough at Shafer elementary for the Intermediate School. With crossing guards and provided the homes are within 1.5 miles of the stop this is compliant with state regulations.
It is inequitable, however, with the manner in which transportation is provided throughout the district.
I'm simply saying it should be consistent.
The crossing guard was taken away in Lower because parents complained it was too long to walk without sidewalks. A mile and a half is the same distance no matter which municipality one lives, but yet we have different standards.
And yes, if you go to the northeast part of Nazareth from Main to Forest drive adjacent to Moravian Hall Square there are no sidewalks. Same is true for other parts of the borough and there are hazardous routes as well.
If Nazareth has bus routes, just like in the townships, I'm sure some people will still drive their children to the building.
I don't think good weather will see too many kids walking along Tatamy Road to get to school. There are no 6-8th grade students doing it now, so I'd doubt 4-6 grade students would.
When students were walking from the MS to the HS for after school activities through Farmview, residents complained and the students were told they had to take the shuttle.
Walking to this building is not an option.
I assume the Farmview kids will be walking? What about those kids just west of Friedenstahl? Those are kids are certainly within 1.5 miles of the school.
Ross, you and I have talked quite a bit about transportation with respect to the new school and grade configuration. I think we both know (or think we know) that this wasn't high on the district's priority/thought process list when they considered all of this.
Ross...this is not only an issue for the borough...my daughter was given a bus stop on Newburg Road surrounded by fields and no street lights...she is the ONLY student picked up here. It is a little more than .5 mile from my house, but not the safest alternative. One of those extremely kind-hearted folks at Jennings told me that she grew up here and Newburg Road is very safe and furthermore they are not responsible for my daughter's safety until AFTER she boards the bus and they have no responsibility after she steps off. I cannot understand why they did not see fit to create the route to allow a safer stop for my child and my phone calls go unanswered.
Having once been the person who had to take those calls I can say it is not easy and you can't make everyone happy.
When I took the job, they had gone through a "stop consolidation". The reason? The mS and HS are supposed to start at the same time and this wasn't a problem when the buildings were adjacent to one another.
When the current building opened, they needed extra time to drop students at one building and then drive to the other. More time was needed when the residents of Farmview complained that buses drove through their neighborhood, so they were re-routed along Tatamy Road adding a few more minutes.
How did they make the time up? Shorter bus routes and some clock tweaking at the buildings.
You make shorter bus routes by having fewer stops.
If you consider the two extremes, the district would prefer one stop, load the bus, drive to the destination, and the parents would prefer a stop per child in front of the house.
I've found there is no happy medium. My experience was that these stops were set, assignments distributed, and the calls began. There were some that were clearly mistakes when you went out and looked at them, but many were questionable.
In the end, the people who came to the school board meetings pretty much got what they wanted. The Board and Admin don't like complaints and they surely don't like them in the paper week in and week out.
If you apply the same logic for the borough into upper nazareth, then yes the kids in the gardens would walk to shafer and get shuttled over, the kids in farmview would walk (will they?), and once the stop light is installed at east lawn and Schoeneck/Friedenstahl then those north of that intersection should walk too. Despite the fact that east lawn is hazardous, it would be a controlled intersection and thereby safe to cross.
I don't see this happening, and I'm not saying I want to, I'm simply making the equitable comparison.
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