Parent Crystal Costling and others urge Pennridge School District to reinstate bus stop after child injured

Crystal Costling told the Pennridge School District board at its February meeting that her son, Nathan, was injured after being dropped at an assigned bus stop on Feb. 3 and stepping into a snowbank.

"A stop where a child must climb over snow bags is not the safe spot," Costling said, urging the board to return the stop to a nearby curb where the roadway is clear. She said she had been warning the district for months and asked that bus-camera footage be preserved and reviewed.

Another parent, Tack Rudy, described the effect losing a neighborhood bus stop has on his son, who has multiple disabilities. "Tonight, you are not deciding transportation. You are deciding whether my son belongs," Rudy told the board, saying the neighborhood bus is where children learn names and begin to belong.

Both parents asked the board to reinstate stops so students can ride with neighborhood peers rather than being isolated or required to use routes that separate them from friends. Costling and Rudy said they were told the district would reconsider a stop only if new safety information or an injury arose; they described a lack of communication from the district prior to the incident.

The public‑comment period concluded without an immediate board action on the stop; board business moved next to the consent calendar and committee reports.