About 500 additional Syracuse high school students will have the option to ride the bus come February after an agreement with Centro. The city school district announced Monday the maximum walking distance for students has been reduced from two miles to 1.5 miles. Centro director Frank Kobliski says it was a matter of logistics and no extra buses.
"We had to do this with all of the existing routes, 30 some odd routes that serve the four city high schools each morning and afternoon. We needed to find out where there were empty seats, where the buses might be able to have their routes extended or altered along the way, so it's quite a detailed endeavor to find riding space for 500 or more additional students."
Superintendent Sharon Contreras says they're pleased with the progress, and would like to do more, but are limited by costs, Centro’s resources, and state regulations.
"We're talking to Centro about what it would take to transport more students in a 1.0 mile walk zone. then we have to talk to the State Education Department and state legislators about the actual reimbursement rules. If they won't change those rules, we have to think about how to get more funding into the system think about how do we get more funding into the system so we can afford transport more students."
The state doesn’t reimburse districts for busing any student who lives 1.5 miles or less from school. Contreras says the additional cost at 1.5 miles is only 150-thousand dollars. Shorten that to a half mile walk zone, and the cost balloons to $7 million. Students have been pushing for better transportation with their “two miles is too far” campaign. Many of them at Monday’s announcement were pleased with the news, but were hoping for a one mile maximum. One Henninger High School student wonders why suburban districts can bus anyone who needs it.
"They have it, why don't we? We don't work as hard as them? But I'm here. I get good grades, Honor Society, I came here to help. Yes, I'm gracious, and I thank you superintendent for giving me the 1.5. We need rides for everybody," he said to applause.
Kobliski with Centro says accommodating students in anything shorter than a 1.5 mile walk zone would be a "very heavy lift."
"Our capacity is limited by the number of buses in our fleet and what they all need to be doing at 7:20 in the morning when people are going to school, they're going to middle schools, they're going to high schools, they're going to university, they're going to work. Everyone wants to move at the same time, and we only have so many vehicles in our fleet."
The concern driving students, parents, and teachers is safety on the streets many students walk to get to school, whether it’s crime, snow, or debris. Education commissioner Mark Muhammed says busing more students won’t address assaults or robberies.
"Shame on us as a city and a community to know these crimes take place, and our children have to be in that environment. We aren't doing everything we can to make our neighborhoods safer. For me, putting them on a bus to get them from point A to point B, from home to school to bypass the unsafe neighborhoods is just avoiding the problem."
Meanwhile, Superintendent Contreras expects the additional transportation will improve attendance, which tends to drop on the coldest, snowiest days. she says if kids can’t get to school, they can’t learn, which impacts the performance and graduation rates that people are so quick to criticize.
"It's very sad to me because we have the poorest students in the state who need to be in school more than anybody else, and they;re struggling to get to school."
Centro officials say the new transportation plan can’t take effect until mid-Feburary due to union negotiations.
