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Parent urges district to expand busing, calls current policy inequitable
Summary
A parent testified about lack of busing for many West Irondequoit students and proposed districtwide busing for students living more than one mile from school, citing safety and equity concerns.
WEST IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — During public comment at the Jan. 9 West Irondequoit Board meeting, Sadie Hendrickson, a parent of three district students, urged the board to address what she described as inequitable busing practices and proposed the district consider busing all students who live more than one mile from their school.
Hendrickson said her family lives about 1.7 miles from Iroquois and reported that the walk home can take roughly 40 minutes. She said that although her children can and do bike or walk, inclement weather and time constraints have required parents to leave work early or to buy additional cold‑weather clothing. "The lack of busing, I believe, is inequitable and puts a real hardship on families in our district," she told the board.
Hendrickson proposed long‑term solutions, including transportation hubs at elementary schools — a practice she said worked in a prior district in Maryland — so children could walk a short distance to a hub and be bused from there. She acknowledged the proposal would be lengthy and expensive but said it would be the most equitable approach.
Board response: The item was taken during the public comment period; board members did not take immediate action but will include transportation as part of future discussions. The superintendent and staff did not announce immediate changes in busing policy at the Jan. 9 meeting.
Ending: Hendrickson urged the district to consider families with single parents, limited networks, or limited resources when reviewing walking distances and busing policies.
