Comments on: My neighbors are going to hate me…

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:42:41 +0000

gospazha, just saw your message and I want to say that I don’t think anyone OWES me ANYTHING. I’m stating the facts in my situation and made my case to the county transportation. I lost the battle and decided to do what I needed to do and drive my child to school. I felt my complaint/concern was legitimate and worth the battle.

Also, I think many laws/rules are outdated and should be revisited by policy/lawmakers, especially when extreme change has occurred. It’s just frustrating when you attempt to be proactive and you find that policy/lawmakers are not necessarily of the same mindset. I don’t think I’m out of line/whinging because I raised this concern to the county…I would gladly support/help parents get a bus for their kids even if I didn’t have one of my own.

By: gospazha

gospazha — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:41:10 +0000

Kimberly, no one owes your kids crossing guards or a bus ride to school. All you’re doing is whinging about all the accommodations you think everyone else owes you because you have children.

YOU chose to have them, so there’s nothing amiss with having YOU take the responsibility of getting them to school safely. (And yes, I’d say the same for the people who live more than a mile from the school, too.)

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:57:39 +0000

Yeah, I live on a road that connects two very busy roads and my problem is not so much that it connects these busy roads, but that the people drive irresponsibly. It is a residential road but for some reason, people drive way above the speed limit thus making it an unsafe residential road. The county won’t allow speed bumps since it is considered a snow-emergency route. The kids (elementary school) don’t get a bus because we live just under a mile away from the school. You have to be a mile or more away to get a bus. This mile or more away rule was implemented in 1963, long before my neighborhood was built. I’m sure back then it was “safe” for kids to walk to school; however, there has been extreme growth in this area over the last 46 years and one would think the county and school board would take another look at this bus rule for specific neighborhoods. If my child were to walk the side streets (a safer route)to school, he would be walking more than a mile. If he walks the route the county uses to measure walking distance, it is .82 miles BUT it is a dangerous route and these kids are in elementary school!

The county doesn’t provide a crossing guard at the end of my road. The school transportation people told me that traffic light is a cross-walk traffic light but having driven this road and sitting at that light, I’ve witnessed drivers neglecting to stop at the red light when making a right turn onto my road. SCARY!! No way will I let my child walk that route. Uh uh.

After a two-week email battle with the transportation people, I decided to change my work hours and drive my child to school.