EDEN SCHOOLS
Board refuses to reinstate late bus
A number of parents, students and coaches urged the Eden School Board on Tuesday to reconsider the elimination of a late bus run.
“The busing issue to me is a safety issue,” Pam Gibbons, a parent and track coach, told the board at its meeting. Gibbons cited the size of the district and the lack of sidewalks as potential problems for students who would have no way home.
“We’re going to have disaster after disaster,” she said, warning that youngsters would pile into cars with other students. When she asked if the district had a “plan of action,” she was told by Junior/Senior High School Principal Marc Graff that coaches were responsible for supervising the students.
The district decided last month to eliminate the run, which is generally considered the “sports bus,” because of rising cost of fuel, School Superintendent Ronald K. Buggs said.
Board member Patricia Schenk’s motion to reinstate the bus run was defeated by a 4-2 vote.
“As a member of the Eden community, I find it unconscionable that any cuts automatically come at the expense of the students,” Schenk said in making the motion.
Buggs said the district would “certainly” take another look at the transportation issue.
“If fuel costs continue to drop, we will revisit the issue and make some adjustments,” he said.
In other business, the board set the final tax rates for the coming school year: $17.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in Boston, Evans and North Collins; $34.68 per $1,000 in Concord; and $24.77 per $1,000 in Eden.
The rate constitutes an increase of 4.9 percent from last year.
