KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffBloomfield School Board eliminates bus service to some students

Bloomfield School Board eliminates bus service to some students

By Tyler Profilet - bio | email

BLOOMFIELD, MO (KFVS) - Those who live less than a mile away from Bloomfield Public Schools, have one less way to get to school.

In a move to save money, the school joins other districts around the Heartland in eliminating bus transportation for students who live close to campus.

Amy Burns knows all too well the dangers of having a child walk to school.

Her daughter, Brittney, was hit in the hip by a driver just a couple of years ago.

"I was walking in the grass on the right side of the road and this lady was talking on her cell phone, and she hit me and I went spinning real fast," Brittney Burns said.

Amy says she usually lets her kids walk to school as long as the weather is nice.

She says she's taught them all how to be careful along the streets, but says it will be dangerous for kids who haven't done it before.

"If their parents work and they're used to dropping them off at the bus stop, on their way to work. Now they're going to have to walk to school. And it's just going to be very dangerous," said Amy Burns

But superintendent Dr. Nicholas Thiele says although the district has already cut $100,000 out of next year's budget, these bus cuts will save the district another $25,000-30,000, which would fill the remainder of the budget gap.

Thiele says the district will still do everything it can to make sure students are safe.

In a letter to parents he wrote:

"We will continue to provide cross-walk monitors at major intersections on campus to ensure safe passage for your child as he/she walks or rides a bicycle to school. We will also make provision for additional bicycle racks at all buildings and help move traffic smoothly as more parents drop students off."

But Burns says she wishes the school could cut something other than the transportation budget.

"There's a lot of young children who live within that mile radius of school who depend on the school bus, and whose parents depend on the school busses to get them back and forth to school," she said.

The school is hosting a meeting for public feedback on Tuesday, July 27 at 7 p.m. at the high school library.

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