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Hernando Today

Stick With The Status Quo

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By LINNEA BROWN, Hernando Today

Published: January 29, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Safety first.

That's the word from the Hernando County School Board, which quickly shot down the chance to cut transportation costs by creating a one-mile limit around schools during a workshop Monday afternoon.

The decision to stick with the status quo came during a discussion of transportation for students at Explorer K-8, the new 1,800-student school set to open this August off Northcliffe Boulevard in Spring Hill. Busing expenses are estimated to cost the district an extra $650,000 or more.

However, board members agreed that safety of local children must come above all else.

"I think we've been doing a marvelous job," board member Diane Bonfield said. "It's expensive, but I think what we've been doing is right, and I think it should continue."

State funding for transportation only covers students who would have to walk farther than two miles to get to school. However, the school board has historically funded transportation countywide for children who live within that zone for safety reasons, including young children who would have to cross busy intersections, pass homes owned by known sexual predators or walk on roads without sidewalks.

"If you think, for one single moment, that to send 6-year-olds to walk to school in the rain - from one side of a hill to another, past vacant lots - is (OK), that's absurd," longtime school board member and vice chairman Jim Malcolm said. "I'll take the audit comment and the additional costs. Safety is paramount, and it's a security issue."

Each year, the district receives a comment on their financial audit "flagging" the fact that money is being spent to transport children who live within two miles of school.

But not every parent can bring their child to school, and many school drop-off areas are already overcrowded with vehicles, Malcolm said.

"I see the big numbers, but we've always (paid for this) and I understand why we do it," he said. "There may be some weird examples out there of children, such as those who are being carried 450 feet to school that don't need to be - but when a bus goes right past kids, it doesn't make sense not to pick them up."

Currently, the district is spending nearly $1 million to transport about 1,372 students who live within the zone, districtwide. However, the cost of transporting an additional 979 students from Explorer K-8 would nearly double the amount of children bussed at taxpayers' expense.

Establishing a one-mile limit around all schools could save the district an estimated $746,000, transportation director Linda Smith said.

But the board agreed the added costs are worth it.

"I feel the same way (Malcolm) does," board member Pat Fagan said. "I don't think it's worth a child's life to save (money), and hopefully the taxpayers out there feel the same way I do about the safety of our children."

Steve Diaz of the county's transportation planning department attended the workshop and briefly discussed public transportation options. Current fare for students on Hernando County's THEBus/The Hernando Express is 50 cents each way, with monthly passes costing students $7.50 each.

But since most of the students at Explorer K-8 will live within a mile and a half of school, board member John Sweeney said he suspects many will be riding their bikes or walking.

"I think it's great that my son lived close enough that he could walk to school, but I see it as a parental option," he said.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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