School bus cut

[paulb]

Today i received a letter from the council informing us that our school bus was being cut as a cost cutting measure. they claim its in fairness and in line with there policies.
they expect 8 year old kids to walk upto 3 miles to and from school. They feel its safe for young children to be on single track road with cars doing the national speed limit.

this is clearly a dangerous and stupid decision. imagine these children walking home in the winter. i really fear for there safety.

[Ironwithin]

Sounds fair to me and may do some of the fat bairns some good. Cuts have to be made, none of them are popular, but they have to be made.

[Wagon Wheel]

Can I ask where this cut is being made?

[paulb]

the bus to skeld school.

 

so you think a 6 mile walk for 8 year olds and 4 for under 8s in all weathers on single track roads is safe. i think your an idiot. bet your in lerwick

[Wagon Wheel]

Not suprised it was ootwith Lerwick. I know cuts have to be made but it should be fair across Shetland not just in rural areas. I bet the bus from Gulberwick which is within 3 miles of Sound won't be cut.

[JustMe]

Current SIC policy is that the 3 mile distance is reduced to half that in winter and unless there has been a change in policy then this winter should be taken care of. It can be found on the SIC website under "School Transport Policy". So any cut will have to be reviewed after a couple of months.

 

Now I suppose there are those who will say "you made the kids, you chose where to live, you get them to school". I am not one of them. In fact I live in a rural area where the walk to the shop (less than a mile) on a single track road in broad daylight is dangerous........and that is for a big strong adult.

 

First thing to do is to get your councillors.........all or at least one of them to see if this decision has been approved by the council and if not is this something they ought to have considered before it was.

 

Then you maybe ought to find out if your local school (if there was one) was closed on the understanding that the council would provide transport to the alternative.

 

And you might want to measure the distance to the school......the council might have got that wrong. And inform them that you want a pavement and a cycle track installed on the grounds of safety.

 

And if there is a good reason why you cannot drive the kids to school and back maybe mention that as well. Are you willing to pay normal bus fares if the council provide a service bus instead of the school bus. Mention that.

 

As for me I think that a council prepared to provide buses to the airport on Sundays cannot be so short of cash that they cannot provide adequate school transport.

[paulb]

some very good idea justme thank you.

[piggywiggie]

they are going to make poor children walk 3 miles each way? thats terrible! ok they may be quite capable of doing this but that early in the morning is a bit extreme.

I wonder if they will cut the sound bus that takes bairns from my area to anderson high.

[ariel]

Kids are done no favours by parents who think they should be driven everywhere. There is a well-recognised health time bomb for young people because of their sedentary lifestyle. Why would they walk alone? Parents can accompany their children or organise group walks. It's quite worrying that someone thinks bairns can't walk from Soond.

[Biglad]

Cos some parents are too bloody lazy too walk their children to school! Take the car, or will that cost you too much in fuel?

[Biglad]

Cos some parents are too bloody lazy too walk their children to school! Take the car, or will that cost you too much in fuel?

[piggywiggie]

Kids are done no favours by parents who think they should be driven everywhere. There is a well-recognised health time bomb for young people because of their sedentary lifestyle. Why would they walk alone? Parents can accompany their children or organise group walks. It's quite worrying that someone thinks bairns can't walk from Soond.

 

there are allot of kids in the town that get lifts to school just around the corner. I see it all the time. The thing I dont get it the Anderson high school childrent(grown children) still needing parents and busses to run them around the corner to school. I do admit when I was at the school I did use the bus to get from upper sound to the high school but this was only on days where the weather forced me to.

 

I think children that live in the country that have a further distance its understandable for them to require a lift.

[piggywiggie]

Cos some parents are too bloody lazy too walk their children to school! Take the car, or will that cost you too much in fuel?

 

do you have children of your own and a job?

[paulb]

biglad single track road speeding cars no path not safe. how can you not get that.

[shetlandpeat]

If the children have to walk, you could be looking at 1 hour each way. It could be dark before they get home, add to that possible fog or heavy driving rain. On other threads we are constantly reminded of how bad the weather could get. I used to ride a bike to my school along a busy dual carriageway, only took 20 minutes. Perhaps that may be an option, though you would in any case invest in some proper clothing and lights, cycling or walking. If it is the case that children have to take this 2 hour round trip, it may be worth your while to bring this up with your councillor. Although they may not be able to return the service, they could look for alternatives, one that comes to my mind is a reduction of the speed limit and signs to indicate that there could be pedestrians on the road.

It would be interesting how many younguns were affected, that could speed up any options. The local paper is a good way, as well as the community council. You need to shout but keep in mind the other options and get the best of them. Although signs are not cheap and the reduction in speed limits, they may be far cheaper than the bus. Offer other alternatives if you think you are not going to get the bus back.

 

Nationally there is a worry about childrens health due to the lessening of physical activities, in a way it could be a good thing if other measures are implemented to make it safer.