[ClearCase_guy]

She lives only a block and a half from school. Yet she walks by older children waiting with parents for buses to the same school.

From a pure safety perspective, I won't second-guess parents who want their kids to ride a bus.

But I'm calling BS on part of this story. When I was a kid, I had to live 2 miles from the school in order to be allowed on the bus. I couldn't take the bus. My neighbor could, because he lived that much further away (about 100 feet).

Now, I know times are different, and I know cities are different, but in these times of tight budgets, are they really having school buses take kids "a block and a half"????

[FourPeas]

In the early 80’s ALL children were eligible for busing to our rural Michigan school (K-12), even if they lived across the street. The school was on a busy rural highway. In fact, the school rule was that no one was allowed to cross the street during school time, not even at lunch. Yup, it was excessive, but it kept the school from being sued.

[leenie312]

We live in a small town that used to have the school on the main drag...but have since relocated the school in a field behind the old school. Now there are no sidewalks for the kids to walk on...(they were supposed to be part of the whole new school package)...my daughter started kindergarten when they moved into the new building and this year she will be graduating....still no sidewalks and she has had to ride a bus everyday of her school life...even the kids who live next door to the school....no sidewalks...no walking.

[grady]

Now, I know times are different, and I know cities are different, but in these times of tight budgets, are they really having school buses take kids "a block and a half"????

Yes, they are. Two years ago, we were living in NJ, 4 houses away from my son's school. He was in 1st grade at the time. We received a notice before the school year started advising us of his bus stop assignment and letting us know we could opt out and let him walk. The stupidest part about it was that the bus stop was 4 houses away in the opposite direction and adjacent to the busy cross street. They didn't seem to have a problem letting him walk to and from that bus stop.

I always walked him to the corner and watched, from a distance, as he walked to the door of the school. They insisted that I accompany him all the way, but I refused. In the afternoon, however, they would not release him unless somebody was there to pick him up at the door.

[SoftballMominVA]

are they really having school buses take kids "a block and a half"????

In our county, yes. Too many of our communities have no sidewalks and the schools are often on busy streets. The school board decided years ago to transport all students, even those who live less than 1/2 mile away

[TexasRepublic]

When I was a kid, I had to live 2 miles from the school in order to be allowed on the bus. I couldn't take the bus. My neighbor could, because he lived that much further away (about 100 feet).

I had the same problem. One more block, and I could have ridden the bus. At least I could ride my bike to school, but some of those cold mornings were miserable.

[Chickensoup]

In our community we had a family that lived on the driveway into the school and the bus stopped for their child and then drove the two hundred feet to the school.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I believe that in most states students have to meet one of two criteria for school bus transport. One is distance, but the other is a walkable route defined as safe, with a definition including things like presence of sidewalks for the entire route, and obviously, legal places for pedestrians to cross streets. If you live 100 yards from school and your home is on one side of an interstate highway and your school is on the other side, distance isn’t really relevant.