Change in bus laws will help keep city kids safe
Just getting to school is a challenge for some children in Albany. Consider the experience of a fourth-grader in Albany’s South End.
Michelle Betts’ son attends Giffen Memorial Elementary School. The family lives a little more than a mile from school, up a steep hill. That’s too far to be an easy walk for a 9-year-old carrying a school backpack, and too close to be eligible for a school bus.
Betts worries for her son’s safety, especially with crime statistics spiking in cities statewide and nationally during the pandemic. So she takes that walk to school with her son, and home again in the afternoon.
Winter weather also is closing in.
Educators and parents know that when students are not in school, they miss out on the chance to learn. For several years, the City School District of Albany has advocated for changes to the state’s student transportation law and regulations that could help Betts, her child and thousands of families like theirs across New York.
The state Senate and Assembly have passed legislation (S1925/A3093) that would do just that by expanding the criteria for Child Safety Zones.
Child Safety Zones allow school districts to provide transportation, with state reimbursement, to students who live within the state’s 1.5-mile eligibility limit if their route to school is deemed unsafe under specific criteria.
Unfortunately, current state law and regulations lack equity for urban communities, limiting the criteria for defining Child Safety Zones primarily to conditions most often found in suburban and rural areas, like high speed limits and a lack of sidewalks.
If Gov. Kathy Hochul signs S1925/A3093 into law, it would expand Child Safety Zone criteria to include factors such as vacancy rates and crime rates. Once the state’s regulations are revised to reflect these new criteria, districts statewide could have the tools they need to help more students get to and from school safely, no matter the character of their communities, while minimizing the impact on taxpayers.
The children and families in our state’s city school districts and urban communities need and deserve this support. When students are in school, they learn. We should be doing everything we can to get them there as frequently, and as safely, as possible.