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Parents press Mount Healthy board over bus cuts and campus safety; district offers follow-up meetings
Summary
Several parents told the board Sept. 15 that cuts to busing and weak communications have left students walking long distances and parents missing work; speakers also raised safety concerns including a student seen with a gun, and the superintendent offered meetings and community sessions.
During an amended-public-input period on Sept. 15, multiple parents urged the Mount Healthy board to address transportation and school safety.
Deborah Harris told the board that arrival and dismissal have been chaotic, that Hamilton Avenue lacks adequate crossing guards and that parents worry about winter truancy and funding impacts if attendance falls. "Hamilton Avenue is a very, very busy street. Yet, there are no cross guards there. That's a major concern for children," Harris said.
Robert Carter said his family learned of bus cancellations only a week before school and described significant car-line congestion that affects parents' work schedules. He also said students had reported uncertainty about a shooting incident and whether a suspect had been caught; the board chair responded that "there was no money stolen" (responding to a different allegation) and framed earlier accounting problems as mistakes rather than theft. Carter's comments were cut short at the three-minute public-comment limit.
Sierra Alexander said she moved her child out of the district because of safety fears after, she said, seeing a student with a gun in class. "It's not safe," she said, and described a 38-minute walk for her younger child, poor sidewalks and nearby bars she described as dangerous. She urged the district to explore transportation options such as vans or clustered carpools.
Superintendent Dr. Wilson acknowledged traffic and safety concerns, said district staff are meeting with Mount Healthy and Springfield Township police and Hamilton County traffic engineers, and listed upcoming community information sessions and times to contact her directly for meetings. She also noted that the Early Learning Center was approved as publicly funded childcare, which affects preschool tuition collection and revenue assumptions.
What's next: Superintendent encouraged parents to call her direct line for meetings, and the district scheduled informational sessions and said it would continue coordination with local police and county engineers.
