Scared parents: School bus cuts endanger kids
EDMONDS, Wash. - Some parents say the state's money problems will cause safety risks for students because school bus service is being cut - forcing children to walk to school along busy arterials.
In the Edmonds School District, parents recently got warning letters telling them to start making alternate transportation arrangements now.
Children who previously relied on the bus to get to Martha Lake Elementary School now need to get their walking shoes ready.
"If the kids are all of a sudden goofing around, and they step over that fog line, or there's no room for error - what's going to happen?" says one concerned parent, Shane Hazard.
His 8-year-old son used to ride the bus to school, but now he's facing a long walk along a busy street with no shoulders and no protection for pedestrians.
"The biggest concern we're going to look at is the amount of kids walking to school and up and down Maple Road," says Hazard. "There's a speed limit but nobody really follows it."
But the Edmonds School District says it has no choice as it battles a $10 million budget cut - taking a big chunk out of bus service. That means hundreds of kids will have to walk to school.
Sherry Hazard says some of the roads around the school are too dangerous even for adult pedestrians.
"I don't feel safe a lot of times walking in the road," she says. "There's not a lot of sidewalks, and people may not be paying attention - they may be texting and driving."
The school district doesn't get money from the state to transport children who live within a one-mile radius of their school. And cutting their bus service saves the district $500,000.
But some parents like Hazard just wonder what the true cost will be.
"Worst-case scenario - one of these kids are going to end up dead," he says. "Somebody is going to slide into them, go over the fog line - or kidnapping."
Another concern is that more parents will be driving their kids to school - which will create even more traffic on the streets around the school and cause more congestion.
In the Edmonds School District, parents recently got warning letters telling them to start making alternate transportation arrangements now.
Children who previously relied on the bus to get to Martha Lake Elementary School now need to get their walking shoes ready.
"If the kids are all of a sudden goofing around, and they step over that fog line, or there's no room for error - what's going to happen?" says one concerned parent, Shane Hazard.
His 8-year-old son used to ride the bus to school, but now he's facing a long walk along a busy street with no shoulders and no protection for pedestrians.
"The biggest concern we're going to look at is the amount of kids walking to school and up and down Maple Road," says Hazard. "There's a speed limit but nobody really follows it."
But the Edmonds School District says it has no choice as it battles a $10 million budget cut - taking a big chunk out of bus service. That means hundreds of kids will have to walk to school.
Sherry Hazard says some of the roads around the school are too dangerous even for adult pedestrians.
"I don't feel safe a lot of times walking in the road," she says. "There's not a lot of sidewalks, and people may not be paying attention - they may be texting and driving."
The school district doesn't get money from the state to transport children who live within a one-mile radius of their school. And cutting their bus service saves the district $500,000.
But some parents like Hazard just wonder what the true cost will be.
"Worst-case scenario - one of these kids are going to end up dead," he says. "Somebody is going to slide into them, go over the fog line - or kidnapping."
Another concern is that more parents will be driving their kids to school - which will create even more traffic on the streets around the school and cause more congestion.