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U-46 parent on bus routes: ‘It is stupidity’

The new transportation routes for high school students in Elgin Area School District U-46 drew more than 100 parents to a special meeting Thursday, where many vociferously opposed the changes that will force students to walk up to 1½ miles to catch a bus.

Beginning in the fall, high school students who are eligible for transportation will need to walk to the local elementary or middle school to catch a bus to one of the district’s five high schools. The changes, administrators said, would save the district between $750,000 and $1.25 million in transportation costs related to bus maintenance, driver pay and fuel.

John King, the district’s chief operating officer, said state funding for transportation has declined about $14 million over the past four years. The district, which has the largest bus fleet in the state, relies on the state for about 66 percent of its transportation funds.

But many of the parents who attended Thursday’s meeting at Bartlett High School said the cost savings did not outweigh the safety of children walking to schools or, in some cases, local parks.

“My high school freshman is supposed to walk just over a mile to the elementary school, and the concern is that there is going to be a lot of kids over there with no supervision,” said Raymund Doromal of Carol Stream. “That’s where the bullying starts. That’s where gangs start. Who is going to protect and supervise these kids?”

Aside from concerns over supervision, parents also opposed having their students walk before sunrise on cold winter mornings.

“At 6 a.m. she is going to be walking to school,” said Nagesh Brahmbhatt of Bartlett, whose daughter will be starting at Bartlett High School next week. “I go to work at 6:30 a.m. How am I going to drop her off to school? It is stupidity.”

Bartlett High School freshman Michael Mitchell said while the next few months won’t prove challenging, he is not looking forward to walking to school in the winter months.

“I can’t even imagine walking in the snow or rain,” said Mitchell, who will walk a half mile to his designated stop. “I will be walking at 6 a.m., and no one wants to do that.”

But King said the district was not expecting high school students to walk any farther or in different conditions than younger students are already walking in.

“The walking boundaries are aligned with middle school and elementary students,” Kind said. “If it is a hazard for elementary or middle school students, then it is a hazard for high school students, too.”

Those hazards include heavily trafficked roads and areas without sidewalks.

And with less than a week before school starts for the 2011-2012 school year, parents complained that the district did not include their input.

But Tony Sanders, the district spokesman, said there was not enough time before a decision needed to be made.

“Parent participation was not plausible on June 30 when the governor vetoed the budget,” said Sanders, referring to Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a budget that included 100 percent of funding for transportation.

The district will hold another session at 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at Elgin High School.