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SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. Bus seats have been found for all the Sleepy Hollow students affected by the change in the walking radius this year, Superintendent Howard Smith said at a recent board of education meeting.
It turns out we were able to find an empty seat for every child who was affected by the change in the walking distance at WI, Smith said.
A group of parents came to the September board of education meeting to ask the school district to reconsider its decision to stop providing a bus for their children. They cited several safety concerns about letting their children walk the eight-tenths of a mile through their neighborhood and down Route 9 to Washington Irving.
The school district could not add a bus stop in its neighborhood because the walking radius had been approved by voters and because they don't have the funds to add an extra bus.
Smith said the district's transportation supervisor Cyril Hughes had been doing a lot of work since then to identify empty seats on buses. Now that the school year is underway, Smith said the district has a better view of who's eligible to ride the bus and who's actually riding the bus to school.
Hughes matched up students to empty seats and told parents where the bus stop would be, Smith said. The result is that instead of walking to Washington Irving, students can now take a shorter walk to a bus stop outside the walking radius.
Smith commended the parents who brought the issue to the board.
They were very respectful, he said. They asked us to reconsider it wasn't an unreasonable request.
We were just glad that we were able to find empty seats.
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