With so many students having to travel so many miles every day over uncleared subdivision roads, JCPS officials are rightfully concerned about the potential for disaster. But when a policy renders the system so vulnerable that it's forced to grind to a halt so frequently, isn't it time to question whether that policy is worth continuing?
It's clear from Lamb's post that he really doesn't understand how the JCPS transportation or assignment system works. A large majority of kids have schools close to them as an open option for them. The closest school to most kids isn't within walking distance for anyone, so there is still a fair amount of travel in these uncleared subdivisions that would be necessary regardless. Many magnet schools, including the one my daughter attends, travel almost exclusively on the main roads, picking up at the end of subdivisions, and traveling over cleared interstates and city roads, not subdivision streets.
While there are reasons I can point to that I wouldn't mind seeing neighborhood schools, there are also some very valid reasons for the way the system currently operates. As I've said before, it would be helpful if Bill Lamb and other station managers would focus more on both learning more about JCPS and providing constructive reporting and feedback on the JCPS system, rather than heaping the same old tired criticisms of transportation and diversity we've heard since 1975.