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Uploaded: Monday, June 22, 2009, 1:34 PM
Novato students off the bus
School district board cuts transportation budget
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by Samantha Campos
| The Novato Unified School District Board voted this week to slash $550,000 from its transportation budget. The cut, which will end bus service for about 600 students, was made because of the district's $4 million revenue loss. Bus service will continue to be provided for special education students, as required by law. And because the board also renewed its $167,732 annual contract with the Reed Union School District this week, Novato district buses will continue to transport Belvedere, Corte Madera and Tiburon students to school. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by johnnymarin, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2009 at 4:19 pm Most of us walked to school at least one to two miles and survived. All these fat kids will benefit from the added exercise. They might even learn to walk without texting the whole way in order to keep from being run over.
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Posted by kathymarin, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2009 at 6:20 pm The problem with comments like the one above is that he's not aware the era of a young child being able to walk to school ALONE for miles & miles is GONE! No responsible parent would dare let their child walk miles & miles to school without them, and not every parent is available in the morning to walk with them or drive with them. For example, my job starts at 8:00 - 20 minutes before school starts. How will my child get to school in the morning without the bus? Forces me and thousands like me to scramble for daycare in the morning. Also, many districts (like mine) charge parents money to let their children use the bus. I paid $350.00 PER CHILD each year to send my child on the bus. We need to keep the bus & eliminate something else.!
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Posted by Kevinmarin, a resident of the Novato neighborhood, on Jun 23, 2009 at 5:14 pm Johnnymarin's comment, aside from being insensitive, might possibly apply to High School aged kids, and maybe even Middle School boys, but what about the younger ones?
Would you REALLY let your 4th grade girl walk 2 miles to school on her own (assuming you HAVE kids, which, from your comment I seriously doubt)?
Novato Unified School District has done an AMAZING job with less funding than most other districts in the state, consistently turning in extremely high test scores, receiving awards for high achievement for both staff and students, academically outperforming most other schools in the state, and even the country, pioneering the extremely successful Marin School of the Arts, and the list goes on.
Being from another district, you may want to study your subject a little further before you make such comments.
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Posted by Alex, a resident of the Novato neighborhood, on Aug 23, 2009 at 11:03 pm I have two kids: 7 and 13 in Elementary and Middle schools with classes start and end at different times. We live in Pacheco Valley (~2.5 miles from the elementary and ~4.5 miles from the middle schools). Both, me and my wife take commuter buses to San Francisco. We voted at the beginning of June in support of school tax to support public education in Novato. Last year we paid ~ ~$1800 for 2 semesters, two kids buses and still it is not enough? I have to add that there is no safe bike route to the school either. BTW. Would not complain about extra weight problem with any of my kids…
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