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Parents, childcare provider urge Moriarty-Edgewood board to restore bus stop serving Count Your Blessings
Summary
Parents and a local childcare nonprofit urged the Moriarty-Edgewood School Board to restore a longstanding bus stop that the commenters say was essential for working families and students with disabilities. Board members said they will investigate options including legislative advocacy and inter-district agreements.
Parents, a nonprofit childcare provider and emailed commenters on Aug. 19 told the Moriarty-Edgewood School Board that the district’s decision to eliminate a long-standing bus stop for Count Your Blessings daycare will harm working families and students who rely on that transport.
Don King, executive director of Count Your Blessings, said the stop had been used for decades and its removal forced the nonprofit to scramble for alternatives. “It wasn’t just convenient, it was essential. It was represented partnership, equity, and access,” King said during the public-comment period, adding that the program serves families who depend on reliable morning and afternoon transport.
The board also heard from Emily Ashburn, who identified herself as a parent representing families who use Count Your Blessings. Ashburn said the change — she said a bus would “no longer be provided” after Aug. 15, 2025 — would force some parents to leave jobs or reduce hours because their commutes to Albuquerque take roughly an hour each way. “This would be detrimental to our finances,” Ashburn said, describing children in her care with developmental disabilities for whom schedule changes are especially disruptive.
An emailed comment from Stephanie Rotuno, a student’s grandmother, urged board members to reconsider and warned that removing the service could leave a six-year-old to walk nearly a mile home. Rotuno said the current afternoon drop-off time conflicts with her work schedule and that losing the bus could force her to reduce hours or lose employment.
Board members acknowledged the hardship but did not vote on restoring the stop. Vice President Young and other members discussed two short-term avenues: (1) contacting state legislators or working through the New Mexico School Board Association to seek a change that would permit bus stops at childcare facilities, and (2) exploring inter-district transportation agreements that require state approval. Staff noted the district sometimes enters agreements with other districts but that such arrangements require formal approval and are not an immediate fix.
District staff also characterized the change as resulting from operational constraints (details on the administrative decision to eliminate the stop were not specified in the meeting record). The board asked staff to follow up; a member said, “We’ll dive into it deeper,” and the superintendent indicated he would be in touch with Count Your Blessings.
Next steps: board members said they will investigate the scope of the issue (how many districts are affected), consider whether to raise the item with the state school board association, and follow up with the commenter and the childcare provider. No formal policy change or vote to restore the stop occurred at the meeting.
Who spoke: Don King (Count Your Blessings), Emily Ashburn (parent/student representative), Stephanie Rotuno (emailed commenter), and multiple board members including Vice President Young and President Hudson.
