Dangerous Walk to school (Belle Plaine: sex offenders, day care, homes)

[Concerned in Belle Plaine]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and would like to ask a question. I live in Belle Plaine , the school board here has decided to remove the bussing of students that live within 2 miles of their school,Ok, I know that they have a right to do this,but......... our kids as young as 5 years old will need to walk across Scott Cty.Hwy.#5 which has a 50mph speed limit.Once passed that rd. they will need to go approx. .7miles to the next Hwy. crossing, which is State Hwy.169 ( 4 lanes of traffic traveling a minimum of 55mph) as of June this year, the temp. Semiphore will be dismantled and replaced with only a stop sign for crossing traffic, there is a Hwy.underpass at this point,but again ,it is very poorly lit and floods during rains.Within the past 2 weeks a man was found passed out in the tunnel,beside him was containers of urine that he was using to make Meth, how I don't know. It has recently come to my attention that Belle Plaine has 19 unregistered Level 1&2 Sex Offenders and at least 1 registered Level 3 offender living in our town.
Now my question,does anyone how we as ordinary citizens can go about changing the School Boards minds?

[golfgal]

Are you sure kids won't have exceptions made for dangerous crossings. I really find it hard to believe that your school board will expect kids to cross 169 on foot. Many districts have moved to the 2 mile bus rule but they have exceptions for kids that have to cross dangerous roads.

[Concerned in Belle Plaine]

Thank you for your reply - Yes I am sure of the fact and No there will be no exceptions unless the child has a disablity.If you would like to see a short video clip,check out WCCO and type in Dangerous Walk in the search window.
Is there anyone at State leval that can help us?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Concerned in Belle Plaine

Thank you for your reply - Yes I am sure of the fact and No there will be no exceptions unless the child has a disablity.If you would like to see a short video clip,check out WCCO and type in Dangerous Walk in the search window.
Is there anyone at State leval that can help us?

There probably isn't anyone at the state level that can help. School districts can make theses choices for themselves. The problem is that schools have lost a significant amount of state funding in the past couple years. You do have options, you can always pay for busing or you could drive your child to school. Being bused to school is not a right it is a convenience the district provides and if it comes down to limiting buses or cutting educational programs I would gladly make arrangements to get my kids to school another way.

[Concerned in Belle Plaine]

Golfgal-
I would gladly drive my seven year old to school,but many families are not as fortunate as I ,they have jobs to go to that start before 8am.
We as a community gave the school what they asked for in 2005, approx.32 million for a new elementary school and renovation of existing buildings. We now have a new school (set to open for the 2007-2008 school year ) with not enough money to operate it. Yet the board saw fit to spend close to a million of that money to build a state of the art Football Field,while cutting the bussing ( which will save $197,000), now they want to spend $200,000 to install an in ground sprinkler system for that field. Why on earth do they feel a field is more important than the safety of the students? They have also cut Acedemics and teachers ,but not one cut to the sports that only a few students actually are involved in. They also buss the sports teams to practices at local parks ( within 2 miles of the school )each day.Why not let them walk?

[BeckyS]

If you get a sufficient amount of parents complaining, your school board may restore busing - they are elected and politicians at heart. I agree with whomever said it is odd that they would make a young child cross an unsafe road but kids are just entitled to a free education - getting them to that education is the parent's responsibility.

As for building a new football field - schools have separate "pots" of money. They cannot co-mingle the funds. A football field is a capital improvement and is paid with capital bonding money. School buses are paid from the general fund - your property tax revenue and the per-pupil funding from the state. A school district cannot pay for busing with capital bond funding - it is illegal and those funds may only be used for facilities, not services or instruction - but there is a "use it or lose it" law, so they can build a new field this fiscal year or not but if they don't, they will not have the money to build it next year.

I'm not trying to defend them - schools waste a vast amount of resources (IMO) - I just want you to know how that works.

[Concerned in Belle Plaine]

BeckyS
Thank you for posting your reply.About 60 of us parents and grandparents went to the School Board meeting last night and talked for over 2 hrs,our State Representative also came and spoke on our behalf.The only thing resolved was that the board will not reconsider unless the State comes thru with more money,basicly they told us that this is what we get for not approving a too costly Operating Referendum last fall. But ,they never once told the voting public that the bussing was the first to go. They chose the one item on the list of budget cuts that would effect the most people,basicly forcing us to approve the next Referendum regardless of the cost,if we want our children safe.
Two cities TV stations have done reports,WCCO and KSTP ,both showing the dangers to the kids,I don't know how we are going to change the Boards minds when they won't listen to us. The majority of board members spent the whole meeting looking disgusted and rolling their eyes during the public forum.
We will not give up the fight, our children are worth more than all of their well thought out cuts.

[MN-Educator]

I do believe your concerns are legitimate. I grew up in Belle Plaine and have watched the enormous growth. I also believe that Belle Plaine has a poor school system and poor school board.

My suggestions would be to look into before school child care and drop your child off on your way to work or find a child care provider nearby that would enable your child to have a closer walking commute.

Hope you can find a solution!

[JenLee]

It would seem to me that you have one OTHER choice *IF* you can keep your core group of 60 parents/families together and go along with it.

School districts are paid by the state for the number of students who attend school each day. If they suddenly lose funding (or are TOLD that they will!) for some 60 kids; THEN you have their attention! This may sound dumb; but check into home schooling rules. PUBLICLY. LOUDLY. Put announcements in the paper, etc.

If your kids CAN'T get to school safely; then *maybe* they shouldn't attend that school! Maybe the threat of less students (and therefore less state funds) might get their attention since the safety of the students doesn't seem important to them.

Personally, the idea of them bussing sports team (who are obviously older than 5!) to local parks is sending the wrong message to everyone in Belle Plain! Sports teams could USE that distance to help them get into good physical condition!

[BeckyS]

MN Educator makes a very good point. Most districts will provide day care transportation, so if they kids do have daycare needs, send them to a daycare within busing range.

Although homeschooling your kids is a rather drastic move (and one that probably isn't feasible - if you can homeschool, it probably means you don't work during the day which means driving your kid to school or accompanying them to their bus stop should be no skin of your back) I don't really agree with the suggestion of removing them from the school. Schools are paid two years behind, not on real time enrollment, which is precisely why a place like Belle Plaine where there has been enormous growth comes up short. I'll make up numbers here but they could very well be receiving funding for 5,000 kids but serving 6,500.

I live in a different school district and my daughter takes an activity bus with her sports team. I pay $25 a year for an "activity card" that enables her to take that bus, plus an additional $35 a month for the sport plus extra every time there is a competition. Those buses are paid from fees generated by the sports, not the general fund. May be different in your district.