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More Busing With School Consolidations

Welcome to Citizens for Better Schools WHAT'S NEW: Ala Ed Budget Crisis - State Takes Fed Stimulus Funds Then Cuts State Funding REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: Brown Past 50 SympoSIUM and Education Workshops SCHOOL TAKEOVER CORNER: BIRMINGHAM * DETROIT * SAINT LOUIS School Size and Grade Structure Contact Citizens for Better Schools Education Statistics & Thumbnail Facts: School size not saving Detroit schools form chopping blocks - Economies of scale B'ham Superintendent Search: Edgecombe County - Birmingham City Schools NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REAUTHORIZATION UPDATE PAGE - NOW OPEN BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSING WATCH: MORE SECRET MEETINGS 2007-2008 BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSINGS (HERE WE GO AGAIN - "DOWN SIZING, RIGHT SIZING, or CAPSIZING" ) Alabama School Districts Without One Month Reserve Fund More Busing in Birmingham With School Consolidations ALA'S #1 PROBLEM: TEACHER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT Blog Ala's Biggest Problem - Teacher Sexual Misconduct BIG SPENDERS - MOST COSTLY SCHOOLS NOT SMALL SCHOOLS The late Henry Sparks made Birmingham the financial envy of the state's education system Education Finance, Economics, & Budget Monitoring Despite Free Space in SomeSchools, Many Packed Classrooms(How are Birmingham Classrooms?) Class Size Comparison Changes For Parents - The Classroom Effects of Closing & Consolidating Schools COMING SOON: ** THE CHOICE: SCHOOL ZONING, BIG SCHOOLS - SMALL SCHOOLS (WHICH EDUCATES THE POOR BEST?) CLASS SIZE REDUCTION Education Research on School Size: School Climate and Academic Achievement Evidence Based Consequences of Increased School Size Curriculum and Instruction  BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS DECLINE: THEFT IN SCHOLS - INTERNAL CONTROLS LACKING Worhtless BOE Guidelines and Frame Work For Superintendent Stan Mims, Lay Citizen Advisory Task Force (BOE Policy 6170) Sabotaged In Education: Big Is Not Better - Research Finds Small Schools Better for Poor and Black Students Links About Birmingham City Schools The Good Common School Journal Thumbnail Facts: Birmingham Enrollment/ Teacher Loss Not Cause of $22 Million Bham BOE Losses Anniston Citizens for Better Schools FAIRFIELD CITIZENS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS Jefferson County (Alabama) School System: Sylacauga Citizens for Better Schools Citizens For Better Schools: Education Management and Leadership Special, Exceptional, and Gifted and Talented Education GOLD FACULTY - BROWN PAST 50 WORKSHOP: BEYOND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND - FULFILLING THE PROMISE OF BROWN Contact Your School, State, and Federal Representation Here! Favorite Links: Legal Resources - College Funding Opportunity ALL SPORTS Birmingham - ALL THE TIME GENDER EQUITY: Public Schools, Segregated Schools? Phillips Academy - Crisis in Student School Bus Transportation WE ARE "HOKIES" TOO! Topic Index: BREAKING SCHOOL CLOSING NEWS ** Citizens for Better Schools Guest Book



CITIZENS' ANALYSIS of

“A PLAN REVISTED CONSOLIDATION PLAN”  STUDENT TRANSPORTATION BUS ROUTES and RUNS     (TRANSPORTATION COSTS)              

Three months after the Birmingham Board of Education voted to close 16 schools over the next three years “to save money” (with five schools closing this year), interim school superintendent B. S. Allen has yet to unveil a transportation plan to the public or the board for consideration.  More serious, a Citizens for Better Schools survey of school board members found board members have received no estimate of costs for expanded student transportation occasioned by closing schools such as West End High school, which currently has only one bus transporting students to that school .  The 600 plus student body lives within a two mile radius to West End High School.  Under state law, school districts are not required to provide transportation for students living within two miles of the school to which they are zoned.  Under the B. S. Allen school closing plan, ninety percent of West End students will be eligible for free bus transportation, an added cost to the Alabama State Department of Education at budget time, when the state legislature (in a House vote) cut bus transportation for the Alabama State Department of Education’s appropriation for 2008-2009.  

 Further complicating this transportation issue is the number of buses needed to transport massive numbers of students across town from their neighborhoods under the Allen school closing plan.   Birmingham's recently retired director of transportation, Charles Henry, has reported to the Board of Education that the system's aging bus fleet is "over used," resulting in “double runs" in order to transport city students to school.  Rising fuel costs is yet another factor a school district scarped for cash will have to contend with in the new school year.  

 

In our school bus transportation exampleS, we used actual school addresses to calculate driving distances.  You can calculate your own driving distances from home to school.  Click on this link http://www.mapquest.com/  type in your address and Zip Code, then type in the address and Zip Code of the receiving school your child may be assigned for the 2008-2009 school year.  This will give you the driving distance from your home to your child’s new school.  You will also have a street map of the driving route from your home to school, just scroll down on the link http://www.mapquest.com/  You can then compare driving distance and estimate your cost per gallon of gas and vehicle operation costs to transport your child to and from school each day. You should also call the Birmingham Board of Education at 231-4600 and ask either for the Superintendent, Transportation or Attendance Departments to find out the school you home is zoned for the 2008-2009 school year, and whether your child is eligible for a free bus ride to school     

WHAT IF MY CHILD LIVES WITHIN TWO (2) MILES of an Assigned School? Citizens for Better Schools www.cfbsedu.org would like parents whose children live within two miles of an assigned school to know that free bus transportation may be available to you also: If you can convince school administrators that it is unsafe, hazardous, or simply dangerous for your child to walk to school, state law requires the local school district to provide your child a free ride to school for their protection.  Conditions such as busy streets, roads or highways; crime infested areas (e.g. sex offenders living along the route to school); drug and gang activity are justifiable reasons to request a free bus ride to school.       SAFE WALKING ROUTE to SCHOOL: Let Citizens for Better Schools http://citizensforbetterschools.50megs.com/guest_book.html know whether your child has a “Safe Walking Route to School”.  You can email us at http://citizensforbetterschools.50megs.com/guest_book.html  or write CFBS at P. O. Box 190280, Birmingham, Alabama 35219, or call (205) 478-7183.  We would like to help you get a SAFE WALKING ROUTE to SCHOOL

Here are examples of transportation routes to and from closed and receiving schools in the B. S. Allen “A Plan Revisited Consolidation Plan”  AFTER CLICKING ON THE SCHOOL'S WEB LINK, BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE STREET MAP FROM SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR,  TO THE RECIVING SCHOOLS:                 

 

 

 

McElwain to Avondale (The Long and Winding Road) http://www.mapquest.com/maps/4447+Montevallo+Rd+Birmingham+AL+35213-1515/4000+8th+Ct+S+Birmingham+Al+35222-3617/)  Total Estimated Distance: 3.28 miles, one way McElwain Elem Sch-Magnet 4447 Montevallo Rd Birmingham, AL 35213-1515 Avondale Elem Sch     4000 8th Ct S Birmingham, AL 35222-3617