Thursday, March 18, 2010

The School System having to cut things out

Today on the news the Clark County school district said they have to cut millions of dollars out of the budget and have devised a surey that parents, students and residents can take to tell them where they would like to see the cuts taken from.

I just took the survey and some of the things they were thinking of doing are just a little nuts.
One of the questions asked if they should make the school walk zone 3 miles instead of two miles. Now let me tell you what this means.

Right now any child from kindergarten on up to 12th grade who lives less than 2 miles and right up to the 2 mile mark, has to either get a ride with their parents to school or walk. If the parents don't have transportation, they walk.

Kids who live more than 2 miles from school can sign up to get the school bus but the bus stop might be more than a few blocks from their home, so they would ahve to do some walking anyway.

Now let me tell you, when my daughter was in the 1st grade we lived exactly 2.1 miles from the school and we didn't have a car so I walked her to school every day and home every day. Even in the 116F temperatures. A few times she would get so over heated that she stopped and vomited on the way home and we would stop under a tree so she could cool down a little, but in temps as hot as that, there is no cooling down. So when it was really hot, I sometimes would keep her home so she didn't have a heat stroke on the way home in the middle of the afternoon.

Now they want 6 and 7 year olds to walk 3 miles in the 116 F temps of the summer? That's jsut not right and it's not healthy...a kid could die.

It would take us about an hour to walk home because she was so small and couldn't walk fast and it was hot as hell.

Eliminate high paying school board jobs, sports, and make it a 9 month school year again. But don't make it harder to get to and from school for those who don't have a car to get their kids to and from school.