Parents urge Edmonds School District to restore bus access for high-capacity program siblings

Several parents told the Edmonds School District board of directors Tuesday that a recent interpretation of the district's transportation policy is preventing younger siblings of students in the highly capable (challenge) program from riding school buses to the same school even when seats are available.

At the board's public-comment period, Josiah (Joe) Olsen, a Lynnwood parent with two children in the challenge program at Terrace Park Elementary, said the district had recently changed its practice so that students on a waiver “get no transportation no matter what.” Olsen said some families were given bus route numbers but were later told seats must remain empty and parents must provide transport. “We have an empty seat, and we still won't take them when the resources already allocated and being used. It seems an easy win to me to say, we're gonna go back to the old policy. If we have the space, we'll take them,” he said.

Heather Glued, another Lynnwood parent, described the practical and equity impacts on families who live at the district's far edges. She said the change can add as much as 75 minutes of extra daily transportation time for some families and could force parents to withdraw their child from the highly capable program because they cannot cover two separate drop-offs. “This uneven application raises serious fairness concerns,” Glued said, noting that siblings who transferred in prior years still receive transportation while families who transferred this year do not.

In board comments later in the meeting, Director Smith said she would follow up with Superintendent Dr. Minor for more details and to determine whether the situation could be fixed if seats exist on routes. The board did not take formal action on the matter during the meeting.

Why it matters: The change affects students enrolled via transfer waivers and their families' ability to access the district's highly capable program. Parents framed the issue as both a logistical hardship and an equity concern because families with greater time or resources would be better able to accommodate the change.

Details and context: Parents said the district's prior practice allowed waiver students to ride when there was spare capacity on a route; the new interpretation, they said, categorically denied transportation even when space existed. Commenters said the change was communicated only as the school year began and that families lacked advance notice to plan alternatives. Board members described the complaint as eligible for staff follow-up rather than immediate policy change.

Next steps: Director Smith asked Dr. Minor to investigate and report back; no formal motion, vote, or policy amendment occurred at this meeting.