CANTON, Mich. – Some families in the Plymouth-Canton school district were surprised to learn within the past few days that bus services would not be available for their neighborhood for the upcoming school year.
A letter was sent to families of students attending Workman Elementary School, which is located on the corner of the busy intersection of Cherry Hill and Denton roads.
“We just don’t understand how we could be given 10 days to come up with a plan b to get our kids to school, especially since so many of us work,” said parent Carrie Neal.
Neal lives next to a school bus stop, and she says her daughter could not wait to take the bus to kindergarten.
“She has been waiting for a year and a half to get on the bus for the first time,” Neal said. “So, I am crushed for her.”
There will be no bus ride for Neal’s daughter and everyone else living within the boundaries of the Plymouth Canton school map seen in the video player above that was sent out this week.
Those affected live in the towns of the Cherry Hill subdivision.
The email surprised parents:
“Now that the sub-division sidewalk construction is complete, it provides a safe, convenient and fun opportunity for children to bicycle and walk to Workman Elementary School.”
“The tone felt condescending,” Neal said. “They suggested that it would be a fun opportunity for my kindergartner to walk 30 minutes to school in February.”
On Wednesday (Aug. 24), Local 4 asked the district about the change, the late notice, and whether we are getting results for impacted families.
The district tells said they went on Wednesday afternoon to take a second look at the bus routing system it uses and found a mistake.
They found that 65 students wouldn’t have bus services and are actually in the service area, and the bus will be coming for them on the first day of school.
“I’m really appreciative that they heard us,” Neal said. “It’s clear that the concerns that we raised were thought about. The people that represented us at the board meeting last night spoke on our behalf, and the district clearly took it into consideration, so I’m really thankful that our voices were heard.”
“Today we worked with our intermediate school district, Wayne RESA, to re-route the Cherry Hill Village families in the Workman Elementary attendance area. We reviewed the numbers within the county software routing system and determined that some families in excess of 5,280 feet were left off of our previous report. The approximately 65 students affected will now receive bus service this fall, based on board policy that students who live more than 5,280 feet or more from school receive transportation services. Durham Transportation is in the process of calling the impacted families directly and we will complete these calls as soon as possible.”
Plymouth-Canton School District
