By Gerry

Aug 6, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this

We would save money from our education budgets if we would crackdown on illegal aliens in the state of Georgia. I don't want to pay $10,000/student to educate children of illegal aliens, people that shouldn't be here in the first place. Business owners that hire illegal aliens should be footing the bill for these expenses and not passing them on the general public.

By Lynn

Aug 5, 2008 5:47 PM | Link to this

I agree to an extent about way too many bus stops. The distance from the school that allows bus transportation in my area I believe is supposed to be a mile. However, if traffic around the proximity of a school is especially hazardous safety is taken into consideration and bus transportation is offered. Some parents actually would rather put little Johnny on the bus and not deal with the high traffic areas in front of the schools. As far as the Chapman Intermnediate School since that is a a school that was developed as a 5th/6th Grade center to relieve the overcrowded school in the feeder elementary schools.
Compounded by fact that the the middle and high school (same area) shared a bus years ago but when a student was beaten and killed here there was community outrage that there middle and high school students were riding the bus together.

In the southern rural parts of the state I believe most grade levels all share the same bus.

By scott

Aug 5, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

I wish people understood that the starting date of the school year does not matter because all systems are required to have 180 days of instruction. So if school started after Labor Day then students will be in school until the middle of June. The last I checked it is just as hot in mid-june as it is in early August.
People really need to think, check their facts, and stop blogging on ignorance and emotion.

By RobbieSue

Aug 5, 2008 4:03 PM | Link to this

We live less than a mile away from the cluster of Intermediate, Middle and High Schools in Cherokee County. I can hear the school bells ring from my front yard. Yet 4 separate buses come through our subdivision, stopping at every single block, twice a day. We could easily trim the transporation budget in half by hiring crossing guards to allow students to walk or ride bikes to school, consolidate the bus routes for the different schools on the same campus (they start within 15 minutes of each other) and reduce the number of pick-up stops. When I was in school, the buses stopped at the entrance to subdivisions to pick up (not on every street corner in each subdivision). Now, there are streets of houses that literally back up to the school campus, where you can walk out the back yard and directly on to the high school campus, yet a bus still comes down that street to pick up students.

By RobC

Aug 5, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

Broker By Day, I think you need to go back to school yourself and brush up on Math and US Government. Republicans lost control of Congress as of January 2007 (that was 19 months ago, NOT 4 years ago)when the Senate became equally divided, with 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats (2 Independents) and Democrats gained a 54% advantage in the House (hardly a huge majority).

By scrappy

Aug 5, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this

There are way too many bus stops, some not even 20ft apart. Plus my neighborhood is across from the high school, why are there buses for that at all? Especially when they are empty cause the parents are driving them the 100 yards to the school. And we wonder why our kids are fat? If the buses aren't being used, stop them. Better yet, require those living farther away to take the bus and keep their parents from clogging the roads. The no AC on the bus agrument doesn't work for me, we survived a long time without AC, our kids can too. Remember when cars didn't even have AC?

By deegee

Aug 5, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

My only hope is that the rising gas prices will prompt more parents to send their kid on the bus rather than clog the roads with their big honking SUVs every morning and afternoon.

By ls

Aug 5, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

The start date of a school system has absolutely nothing to do with the rising (gas, food, etc..) prices that all of us are dealing with. If you have a specific issue with the calendar please consult your specific county school board offices.

By Sunny

Aug 5, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this

Get the money from government pensions.
The people are tapped out and have no more for
the government to take.
Local, state, and federal government is drowning our
country.

By atloserville

Aug 5, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this

with the wonderful pedestrian metropolis we have built, certainly these children can walk to school.