Vail Daily letter: Busing in hinterlands tough on kids
I have been trying hard to deal with the bus line. I am not able to understand, as a taxpayer, why my three children are not able to be picked up on Salt Creek at the end of the driveway. We must take them to the intersection of Brush Creek and Salt Creek. The bus will pick them up at 7 a.m.
When arriving at the school, my middle school child must wait one hour outside in any weather with no supervision. I don’t understand why they can’t be allowed into the school cafeteria or classroom, where they can study or work on homework instead of just standing for an hour in the cold.
My two other kids will start at 8 a.m. in the elementary school, and when they are done they must wait outside for an hour with no supervision.
When the middle school is complete, they then board the bus and get home at 4:45. As a working mother, I don’t know how I will be able to be there when they are dropped off. If we are not there, the kids will then be brought back to town, where they need to wait outside, again with no supervision.
There are eight kids and one more to come on Salt Creek alone. I know that there are two for sure on Brush Creek. People have been trying to change this for years.
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I know that things change, but when we were kids our bus would go several miles out of the way to pick up one student. We never had to have a quota to determine when we were worthy enough to be picked up.
I think that years ago it would have been easier for mothers to run their kids farther away to be picked up and to be there when they were dropped off.
Now as working mothers, we are strapped more than ever. How much can it really cost to go a little farther up the road? We would even be willing to pay something for the gas. I need to know that my children are safe and are not left in the elements.
We really need your help. We believe a bus ride to school is something that should be available to all students, not only a select few who happen to live in the right areas.
We thank you for your time.
Ken and Rhonda Ludwig
