| I don't want to appear stupid, but here in the Shawnee Mission school district, and all the school districts on the Kansas side of Kansas City, are neighborhood schools. Kids in grade school can ride a bus, but the attendance centers have to be more than 2 miles (I think) from their home. Most often, kids live within 2 miles of their elementary schools. Parents can pay for bus service if they live inside the line - and, say, don't have any other way to get their kids to school and don't want them to walk. The only real bussing we have is for the Middle Schools that pull from several elementary schools and the attendance center is usually farther away from the student's home. Of course, the High School pulls from a couple of middle schools, but buses aren't cool at that age. I just can't figure out why a bussing program ever started. Sure - it was to make sure the schools were equally attended by all races.
They do a bunch of bussing on the Missouri side. And it's a nightmare. Kids left on buses asleep all night. Kids let out at the wrong stops. Kids waiting for buses when it's still dark outside.
Honestly. Is that still a factor? Really? Cuz it doesn't seem to be here. Just in our little slice of heaven, we have an Indian family, us, the Ethiopians next door, a gay couple a few doors down, an Asian family across the street from them and a black family further down the street. So, our elementary school is mixed race naturally. Wouldn't it make more sense to integrate naturally, allow the kids to go to their own neighborhood attendance centers and spend that saved bussing money in the classroom?
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