Norwich now requires high school students within 1.5 miles to walk to school
Sep. 21—NORWICH — Zobada Zakaria hasn't moved from her Greeneville home, but this year, the 11th grader must get up much earlier to make it to school on time.
Instead of taking the school bus, she now must walk the more than one mile, at times along crumbled or sidewalks overgrown with poison ivy and through areas where there are no sidewalks at all.
Zakaria, 16, vice president of the Norwich NAACP Youth Council, addressed the Norwich Board of Education earlier this month asking the board to reconsider the sudden enforcement this year of a policy requiring high school students within 1.5 miles of school to walk.
Zakaria said the renewed enforcement of the policy is forcing parents to adjust work schedules to drive their children to school, or it makes students like herself walk long distances, sometimes in unsafe areas.
"Walks that take 30 to 40 minutes are extended during severe weather conditions, such as snow or rain," she told the school board. "Imagine, young students navigating through snow or ice or incomplete sidewalks. This is not inconvenient, but dangerous."
The school transportation policy first enacted in 1984 and revised several times over the years, now requires high school students within 2 miles of school to walk to and from school. But Norwich school administrators have not enforced the policy for years, busing all high school students to Norwich Free Academy or Norwich Technical High School.
That changed this year.
School administrators, searching for ways to cut transportation costs that ended last school year $2.4 million over budget, decided to enforce the high school walkers' policy.
But instead of the 2-mile range in the written policy, school officials set 1.5 miles as the limit. Also this year, Norwich Tech students must first go to NFA and will be bused by shuttle to Norwich Tech from there.
All middle and elementary school students continue to be bused to school, Acting Superintendent Susan Lessard said, although the written policy states that students in grades four to eight within 1.5 miles should walk.
The district did reduce the number of bus stops for elementary and middle schools, requiring some younger students to walk to street corners or to stand with neighbors to board the bus together.
Lessard said the transportation changes allowed the district to cut four buses from the NFA routes, two of them eliminated from the budget, saving $164,595. The other two were reassigned to middle and elementary school routes, saving another $21,700.
Parents were informed of the new requirements Aug. 7 with communications in multiple languages.
Phone calls and email complaints about the changes have been pouring in to Maria Parrello, district director of transportation and safety. Lessard said Parrello has received 60 to 70 calls about the changes.
Parrello said while the high school complaints have slowed down, she continues to receive a barrage of calls. Parents of younger students object to the longer walks to bus stops.
She said she recently left her desk for a 10-minute meeting with staff. Her phone had 17 voicemails from parents complaining about the changes.
She said she returns all calls, except those from repeat, angry callers who say they will not accept the change.
"We're trying to make more group stops," Parrello said, "especially for middle school students. There's no reason the buses should be stopping at every house."
She said Norwich's policy for high school students is in line with other towns in the region, including New London, which set a 1.5-mile limit for walkers and Griswold, a 2-mile limit.
New London has distance restrictions for students at all grade levels, according to Julian Wilson, district transportation specialist. Preschool through grade five students living within a half mile of school are not eligible for bus transportation.
New London students in sixth-through-eighth grade must live one mile from school to qualify for bus transportation, and high school students must live 1.5 miles away to receive transportation, Wilson said.
Groton's written policy calls for students living in first through 12th grade living within one mile of school to walk to school. Students in preschool and kindergarten within a half mile must walk to school.
All special education students in all districts are transported to school.
Parrello stressed that safety is a priority. She said the district makes exceptions for safety issues. But there are no provisions for bad-weather days. She noted that property owners are required to clear snow and ice from sidewalks.
"If a walking route becomes unsafe, regardless of sidewalk availability, we will prioritize student safety and arrange transportation," Parrello said.
Zakaria's route includes streets that have no sidewalks.
When parents complain that their children's route is unsafe, Parrello will send the school resource officer to evaluate the situation.
Lessard has asked Police Chief Patrick Daley to have officers patrol walking routes more during the mornings prior to school start time and afternoons when NFA dismisses.
Norwich school board member Heather Fowler said the policy affected her directly. She now drives her son to NFA rather than have him walk a route she said she would not walk herself. Fowler said many areas of the city are not safe, including incidents of gunshots being fired in broad daylight.
Fowler recommended parents who feel their children's walking routes to NFA are not safe should walk the route and take video images and photos to present to the district transportation director.
Enock Petit-Homme, intervention specialist at NFA, told the Norwich school board Tuesday that he has spoken with many parents who are upset about the school bus changes. He said many families have work schedules that would not allow them to drive their children to NFA. Others ride public buses to work.
He said it's "a hike" for students to walk to NFA from the Greeneville area along unsafe streets.
"We urge the board to reconsider this decision," Petit-Homme said.
