Campbell school busing proposal stalled

CAMPBELL — For high school students who have to wade to school some winter mornings through snow up to their knees, there’s bad news.

The school district has decided against busing for the high school, citing cost as a major reason.

Ohio allows school districts to forgo busing for high schoolers and even for kindergartners through eighth-graders who live within two miles of their schools. Campbell has not bused high school students since the 1970s.

The board of education talked about the issue last year, however, after a sophomore was abducted and raped on her way to school one October morning.

Concern for students’ safety — plus sympathy for them walking to school in frigid weather — prompted discussions and a study on the logistics and costs of busing them.

Diana Petruska, who went on to be elected to the school board last year, said at an October board meeting that she hoped the board would look into busing. “I know money is tight,” she told the board then. “But I just feel so bad for that girl.”

The school board eventually decided to wait until it learned whether a 12-mill renewal levy passed in May before it made a decision.

The levy did pass. Even so, it was the cost that was a major factor in leading administrators and the board to decide this summer that the plan wasn’t doable, said schools Superintendent Thomas Robey.

For the complete story, see Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com