School Bus vs. The Small Road: A District's Paradox

Putting school buses on dangerous roads: One might call it a paradox.

On one hand, a bus carrying as many as 65 children must navigate blind turns and narrow streets to access those hard-to-reach places in Ridgefield -- a dangerous prospect.

On the other hand, if the bus doesn't get to those areas, the children living there must walk to their stops by those very same roads along blind turns and narrow streets all the same -- equally dangerous.

So in the Lakeside Drive area of Ridgefield the first week of school has been stressful, according to parents, with four bus stops suddenly consolidated to one.

Last year, Bob the bus driver took his yellow chrome vessel through the narrow private roads of Crescent Drive and Shady Lane, but state statutes now show that these roads may be a liability for the district.

"We can't put a school bus on a road that's not fit for it," said Superintendent Deborah Low. "There's the issue of liability -- like it or not, we have to do that."

So for the first week of school this year, Bob the bus driver has bypassed those small roads as directed by the district, leaving only one stop on Bennet's Farm Rd. at which over 20 children now accumulate from that neighborhood each weekday morning.

And amidst a barrage of demanding parents from that neighborhood Monday evening, the Board of Education stayed relatively silent, opting to take the administration's cue in coming to a compromise for now with stops on Lakeside and Cross Hill Rd. A true decision will be made later in the week after deliberation and a bus tour of the area, the board promised.

This comes after previous conversations with the town about paving the private roads in the neighborhood, the quality of which ties into the decision to halt bus service.

"The town needs to take care of our roads and keep our children safe," said Melissa Sabovic, whose daughter "has to walk a half-mile to get to the stop" under the new routes, she said.

All who stood to comment at the school board meeting Monday spoke to the same subject.

"As far as private roads go," said parent Meryl Markham, "until we pay less taxes than everybody else, we deserve the same service."

Seeing the administration's research for the first time, according to school board chair Austin Drukker, the board would need time to implement any change despite immediate demands by outspoken parents.

The administration's proposed changes would begin Tuesday morning, however, according to district business manager Paul Hendrickson, as buses 11 and 21 would make the following stops:

a. Bennett's Farm Road & Lakeside Drive

b. Lakeside Drive & Sylvan Drive (if needed)

c. Lakeside Drive & Shady Lane

d. Lakeside Drive & Cross Hill Road

e. Cross Hill Road & Rainbow Terrace (if needed)

f. Cross Hill Road & Bennett's Farm Road

Members of the board remained neutral yet sympathetic -- they planned to meet with members of the neighborhood this week and take a bus tour of the roads in question on Saturday morning.

Heather O'Neill said, as many voiced during the public comment section: "Please give us our bus stops back."

"We're not opposed to working this out," Low said. "But once you uncover a law and realize some of the road conditions, you can't just ignore it."