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Parents press district for transparency after Norton Creek bus service cut
Summary
Residents of Norton Creek-area subdivisions asked the St. Charles CUSD 303 board May 12 to reverse or clarify a plan to discontinue bus service for households the district says fall outside a 1.5-mile eligibility boundary; the superintendent said staff are "working behind the scenes" and will communicate soon.
Parents from multiple Saint Charles subdivisions told the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 board on May 12 that they have received notices discontinuing regular bus service to Norton Creek Elementary and are seeking transparency, safety reviews and possible grandfathering for long-served neighborhoods.
The appeals came during the public-comment period from residents who said they and their neighbors have relied on district buses for years, that their homes measure more than the district's 1.5-mile eligibility boundary, and that the district offered a one-year courtesy extension tied to a written agreement families feel pressured to sign. "Impacted families including mine have received a 1 year courtesy bus service extension email offer linked to an agreement that I would need to sign by the end of the month," said Beth Lucas, a district parent who said she attended the April 28 business services committee meeting on the same topic.
Board members and residents said the issue matters because of student safety, travel distances and local traffic patterns. "We feel pressured to sign without adequate information," Lucas said. Diana Sommese, who identified herself as a Kingswood subdivision resident, told the board that her family walked the route and measured it as well over the 1.5-mile threshold and asked the board to release the district's mileage calculations so families can verify them. Steven Cyzylinski, of the Charlemagne subdivision, asked the board to pursue an Illinois Department of Transportation hazard review of Fox Field Road, citing what he described as heavy, fast-moving traffic and insufficient crosswalks for young children.
Parents asked several specific remedies: public disclosure of the mileage calculations used to determine eligibility, grandfathering entire subdivisions that have received service for many years rather than splitting service within a neighborhood, and consideration of other stop-location adjustments inside subdivisions so affected students would not be required to cross hazardous segments of roadway. Multiple speakers said they had not received the detailed mileage data they requested and would not sign the district's one-year extension agreement until they had it.
Superintendent Dr. Gordon responded that the district is "working behind the scenes" to review the situation and would reach out to affected families. "We will definitely be reaching out to families, in short order, but we are doing a little bit of work behind, working to understand it deeply, where we have, what's occurring with each of the homes within that," Dr. Gordon said. He added the district recognizes that members of the Norton Creek subdivisions have had service for many years and said the administration would communicate its next steps shortly.
No formal vote or policy change occurred during the May 12 meeting; the item was raised during public comment and the board indicated staff would follow up. Parents at the meeting said they expect the district to supply the mileage calculations they have requested and to report back with options that address both mileage and roadway-safety concerns.
