Additional Transportation Meetings

Here are the two additional meetings scheduled for the Transportation Plan.

Thursday, Feb. 3
6:30-8 p.m.
at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N. 41st
and,
Wednesday, Feb. 8
6:30-8 p.m.
at
Chief Sealth High School, 2600 SW Thistle.

Comments

transportation tipster said…
From School Transportation News website
http://www.stnonline.com/home/latest-news/3069-seattle-aims-to-save-4-million-with-new-transportation-plan

School bus riders in Seattle could see shorter commutes next school year as Seattle Public Schools is proposing new transportation zones that the district says would streamline bus routes and lessen the budgetary blow to the classroom.

The Seattle Public Schools transportation plan would trim $4 million from the school system's budget, the equivalent of 45 teaching positions, as the district seeks to decrease bus ride times for elementary and K-8 schools to 25 minutes or less. In a statement, Seattle Public Schools said shorter bus routes would lessen the chances of the buses encountering traffic delays, and families will come to expect departure and arrival times will be more reliable.

Students who live in the attendance-area transportation zones but outside of walk zones would be eligible to ride the bus. The attendance-area zone would include the entire attendance area of a particular school and would extend to a 1.25-mile radius from the school and within the middle school service area. Existing walks zones would remain in effect.

The plan also includes new bell times that would start middle schools and high schools 10 minutes later and elementary schools five minutes later. Students would also be able to use a shuttle system to catch a bus at one school and take it to another.

The district was expected to upload maps this week so the public could begin to see the proposed changes, and the public can provide testimony to the school board over the coming weeks.

If approved by the school board on Feb. 16, the district said the plan would remove approximately 80 buses from Seattle roads and highways and would reduce the district's carbon footprint.
transportation tipster said…
Melissa, is it possible to put these additional announcements in the original thread about the transportation plan. Is there a way to edit your original post to add the updated information? Sure, it would make the initial post long but it would also provide continuity to the conversation so people aren't scattered across multiple threads that all deal with the same topic.

Thanks so much for all you do.
Patrick said…
The district said the plan would remove approximately 80 buses from Seattle roads and highways and would reduce the district's carbon footprint.

Oh, come on. The students don't just vanish if the school bus goes away. They'll end up being driven to school by their parents in separate cars for each family, increasing the district's carbon footprint.

Could the district not pretend that their budget cuts are all for the good of the planet?
ParentofThree said…
They just cut and pasted this press release from the last transportation press release where they said the cuts would save $4 million....and did we ever see that report? And is the board being responsible and making sure they see the report, that has been reuqested many times, before they vote on this plan? (I know the answer to that question.)

And Patrick is right, I was one person who started driving one of my students to school as a result of the first round of changes.
Anonymous said…
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Patrick said…
I hate seeing big yellow school buses driving around one or two kids. It's a huge waste of money and is bad fir the environment. These changes can't come soon enough. And if you don't want to drive your kid then go to your neighborhood school.

The school buses I see are full by the end of their runs.

The neighborhood schools are the ones getting their school bus service cut... did you read the proposal?
Spruiter said…
"And if you don't want to drive your kid then go to your neighborhood school."

I think there are plenty of families in the NE who would love to send their kids to their neighborhood school, but they can't because those schools are (over)full and they weren't in an entry grade this year.
Anonymous said…
Still wondering about bell times and transportation zones that were to be posted Wednesday...

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