By Tom Lange, Truth Staff
tlange@etruth.com
ELKHART -- Next week 1,400 students who had previously ridden the bus to school will walk instead.
Over the summer, Elkhart Community Schools officials have been preparing to implement the walk zone shift that was announced by the district in May. And in preparation for Tuesday's first day of school there are a few things they would like students, parents and residents to keep in mind.
Jodee Shaw, communications coordinator for ECS, has been fielding calls from concerned parents. Many of them don't want their children to have to walk to school and some are offering suggestions on alternate ways for the district to save money.
One caller suggested that the district stop mowing buildings' lawns during the summer months.
"The point that we try to make is it doesn't matter whether or not we cut the lawns because that's a different budget," Shaw said. "We still can't pick up his child."
Like it or not, the change is necessary
The change in walk zone boundaries, which remain one mile for elementary school students and will extend to two miles for secondary students, comes from the district's need to cut $1 million from its transportation budget. The push to save is a result of the cap on property taxes which supply the district's transportation fund.
Last year the district examined several methods that had the potential to save the district money, including changing school bell times. Ultimately it was determined that shifting bell times would raise too many issues to be dealt with in short order.
In May, Doug Hasler, executive director of support services, said enforcing walk zones would save the district about $200,000. He said additional cost-cutting measures will likely be examined this year as well.
"We simply can't afford to keep things the way they are, so we have to reduce our services," Shaw said. "We wish we didn't have to."