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Somerset parents and PTSA urge district to reverse earlier start time, cite hill, microclimate and dark-walk risks
Summary
Multiple parents and the Somerset PTSA told the Bellevue School District board that moving Somerset Elementary’s start time to 8:05 a.m. will expose students to unsafe walking conditions in winter and asked the district to reconsider the change.
Parents and the Somerset Elementary PTSA told the Bellevue School District Board of Directors on May 1 that a proposed shift to an 8:05 a.m. start next year would create unsafe walking conditions for students because of steep roads, limited sidewalks, poor winter lighting and local microclimate effects.
Steph (last name not provided) said Somerset “already checks all of these boxes” for unsafe walking conditions—limited or no sidewalks in the one-mile walk radius, no traffic lights, only two crosswalks near the school, blind curves, steep slopes and few overhead street lights. She said an earlier start means students would be walking in the dark during winter months: sunrise can be about 7:57 a.m. in December and January.
Kelly Wuge, president of the Somerset PTSA, told the board Somerset sits at roughly 784 feet above sea level—about 400 feet higher than many district elementary schools—and that the elevation creates a microclimate with more snow, ice and fog. She said neighborhood streets are sometimes unplowed and inaccessible for days after snowfall, forcing parents to drive when walking would otherwise be possible.
Parent Hannah said the $200,000 the district expects to save by changing bell times does not justify what she described as “very real risk to the physical safety of our children,” and asked the board to keep Somerset’s current 9:05 start time.
Speakers urged the district to share the safety-study analysis used to make the start-time decision; one commenter said she had requested the report from district staff and had not yet received it. The district’s transportation web guidance—cited during comments—lists traffic speed, volume, lack of sidewalks and lack of stoplights among unsafe walking conditions.
Board members and staff did not vote on the bell-time policy at the May 1 meeting; the public comments were part of the meeting’s public-comment period. District staff previously explained the bell-time changes are part of a cost-reduction plan that includes routing and bus-service adjustments.
Ending: Parents asked the board and staff to reconsider or to provide a school-specific safety analysis for Somerset before implementing the earlier start time, and to publicly release the transportation and safety assessment used to justify the change.
