We are very encouraged to see East Aurora School District 131 putting wheels under its proposal to expand school busing. In a previous editorial, we wondered how quickly the school district would move to add more bus routes, if it indeed would do anything. But we’re pleased that progress is rolling at a fairly rapid rate, with the school district proposing to provide bus service to those who live more than 1.5 miles from their school.
That would have 3,000 more students at the curb waiting for the bus.
There are very good reasons why this plan should be implemented. One, it makes sense from an academic standpoint. Staff and students in District 131 say students are missing far too many hours of crucial classroom time because they can’t get a ride to school. Walking is not a prudent alternative; many of these schools are far from the students’ homes. And public transportation is not always an option. So they stay home, or come late to school when they finally find a ride. The truancy rate in School District 131 is fairly high.
The evidence in support of expanded busing is not all anecdotal. Research backs up the common-sense view that unreliable transportation is contributing to chronic absenteeism and truancy in school systems, leading to struggles in the classroom — even higher dropout rates.
You don’t, however, need a body of research to make another key argument why more students should have a bus ride to school. It is simply the decent and safe thing to do. Students shouldn’t have to make that long walk to school in the pouring rain, a blizzard, or in the bitter cold. But that is the only choice when the car is in the shop or in use by working parents. Also, a kid on a bus is not going to be hit by a car.
A school bus is not a perk — indeed, in most school systems busing is the rule, not the exception. The district has said it has the funds to cover the costs of school buses, with help from the state — and expects to gain more money as attendance goes up. School funding is based in part on how many students are showing up.
East Aurora School District 131 is doing the right thing in looking at adding more bus routes when it would be easy to put out the stop arm on this proposal. Keep the wheels turning, District 131.
