As a parent, I am troubled that Butler School Board members say they prefer realignment plans that will split up the K-6 school arrangement in the elementary schools. Instead, they favor shutting down neighborhood elementary schools and busing students to either a K-3 or K-4 arrangement, with grades 4-6 or 5-6 transferred to the junior high school. How can the board validate such a plan considering the length of bus ride imposed on some of these children as a result of this plan?

One study found a negative relationship between distance traveled by bus and academic achievement — as ride length increases, academic achievement decreases (Lu and Tweeten, 1973). In 1996, a study concluded that long bus rides were linked to lower grades, poor study habits, loss of sleep and lower levels of fitness (Fox, 1996). Students on long distance routes have also reported asthmatic and allergic symptoms due to the increased exposure to diesel exhaust fumes, a known carcinogen (Wargo, 2002). Other studies have shown that longer bus rides have led to more teasing and bullying infractions on the bus (Zars, 1998).

In the proposals, the longest bus ride would be up to 68 minutes; but, in inclement weather, my fear is that 6-year-old children would be stuck on a bus for up to two hours. Also, with small children, bathroom emergencies are inevitable. It is reasonable to ask a child to wait 15 minutes to arrive at a neighborhood school to use the bathroom, but unjust to ask a child to wait more than an hour and possibly longer to use the bathroom.

Short bus rides and neighborhood schools are so beneficial that some states are mandating the maximum time a student should be on a bus. In 2008, West Virginia enacted a law to limit bus ride lengths; elementary pupils should have no more than a 30 minute commute, middle school pupils no more than 45 minutes, and high school students should have no more than a one hour commute.

We, as citizens and parents, need to make our views heard.