Parents are protesting after Burlington Central Community Unit District 301 canceled school bus service for some Elgin students a few weeks before classes are scheduled to begin.
Residents of the Meadows Edge and Graystone neighborhoods of the Highland Woods subdivision in Elgin received a letter dated July 26 from Central Community Unit School District 301 informing them that bus service would no longer be offered because they reside within 1.5 miles of school.
“The students in my neighborhood have been bused to Country Trails Elementary School since it opened, which I believe is about 10 years,” said Erin Komacki, mother of two. “So this long-standing practice was ripped away from our community with only 20 days of notice. This is unacceptable and utterly disrespectful to the families in this community.”
The letter, which parents said arrived in the first week of August, stated that the district does not receive funding for the busing and the district does not provide transportation to those who live in a walk zone, according to the letter.
“When a student resides within 1.5 miles from school, the district is not responsible to provide transportation,” according to the letter. The letter also referred families to the www.walkbiketoschool.org website to make sure children learn pedestrian safety skills.”
The school code allows reimbursement from the state for busing less than 1.5 miles when walking constitutes a serious hazard. State guidelines list four basic types of serious safety hazards: walking along a roadway, walking on a roadway, crossing a roadway, and crossing railroad tracks. Age also is a factor.
District 301 Superintendent Todd Stirn said that the new director of transportation, Tracie Duffield, visited all busing areas in the district, assessed them on a point system and filed a report.
“We received the information in late July that certain bus students should be walkers,” Stirn said. “Tracie has reached out to both the state and regional offices to verify the assessment. Based on what we hear from them, a determination will be made. The changes were not brought about due to staffing or budget cuts. The bottom line is students who are deemed eligible will receive bus service. We want to ensure equitable treatment for all students across the district.”
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However, parent Patty Joseph said more thought should have been given to the decision.
“There have been no accommodations made or even attempts to contact the responsible people regarding crossing guards, safety patrols, or the removal of snow and ice during the winter as homes do not sit on Highland Woods Boulevard or the bridge area,” Joseph said. “In addition, some of the sidewalks are not completed in the area which would force children onto the street to get to school.”
According to the district, a study would have to be completed before the City of Elgin could provide crossing guards for the affected area.
Komacki also challenges the ruling that the homes are within the walking distance and said there are six kindergarten students on her street. She said she recently walked to the school on the route she thought her daughter might use and said it took 40 minutes one way.
“There are major safety concerns,” Komacki said. “My daughter would have to walk by construction sites, areas with no sidewalks, uneven lots that have yet to be sold that are filled with rocks and other objects that could cause her to fall, and a large pond. She has been in swimming lessons for three years and is still unable to fully swim without flippers or swim gear. All these hazards are just on the beginning of her trek to school.”
There is a path in Highland Woods that goes toward the bridge that leads to the school grounds. The path cuts through a wooded area with trees and tall grasses that can block walkers on the path from view.
Stirn said that an update on the bus situation will be given during the next district board meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 15, at Central High School, 44W625 Plato Road in Burlington.
Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.