In May 2004, the Manhasset School District voters voted to change the eligibility for busing, or required "walking distance" for children attending grades 7-12, from one mile to 1 1/2 miles by a very narrow margin (a mere 14 votes). Since that vote there have been a group of concerned community members who have been working to get the walking distance changed back to one mile. These community members were upset because they felt that last year's Walking Distance Proposition was put on the ballot with little community discussion or education and was confusingly worded. Several people indicated that they had voted wrong because they did not know what they were voting for. This change was done to save an alleged $72,000. Very soon after the vote, we all learned that the $72,000 savings assumption was probably wrong and that the savings, if any, was far less. This made these community members even more upset.

As a result of the passage of the Walking Distance Proposition last year, hundreds of children throughout the community in grades 7 - 12 lost eligibility for safe bus transportation. Many of these children live in South Strathmore and Strathmore Vanderbilt where there is simply no safe walking route to and from school. To walk to school from these areas entails walking on windy, narrow Old Shelter Rock Road which has no curbs with cars speeding past them, up busy Shelter Rock Road (which has no curbs in the snow and has been the scene of numerous accidents) and across the dangerous Northern Boulevard/Shelter Rock Road intersection. No child should be forced to walk this route simply to get to and from school. The change in the walking distance last year has put a tremendous burden on families in these areas who do not have someone at home, due to work or other obligations, to drive their children to and from school every single day.

Responding to the concerns of community members, the Manhasset Board of Education (BOE) has agreed to put the walking distance issue back on the ballot this year. There are going to be many ballot items this year and it is important for all Manhasset voters to understand the facts about the Walking Distance Proposition before they cast their vote. The maps showing the one mile and 1 1/2 mile marks from the Manhasset middle school/high school can be found at www.newdesigns.net/mansd/mansdhs.html. The maps showing the one mile and 1 1/2 mile mark from St. Mary's can be found at www.newdesigns.net/mansd/stmarhs.html. It is expected that the board of education will soon make these maps available on the board of education website.

The board of education and administration has indicated that if the walking distance is changed back to one mile, approximately 375 children will again be eligible for safe bus transportation. They have also indicated that to change the walking distance back to one mile will only cost $40,160 per year. With over 5,000 taxpayer households in Manhasset, this equals less than $8 a year per taxpayer household (or $.02 a day) by my calculation. It is also important to note that if the walking distance is changed back to one mile, every child in South Strathmore and Strathmore Vanderbilt will again be eligible for busing to the Manhasset Middle School/High School. Surely $8 a year is worth the safety of 375 children.

This community often boasts that it puts its children's safety first. Well last year, to save a few dollars, which probably did not even materialize, it put its children's lives at stake. You have not seen droves of children walking to school because it is simply too dangerous to walk on many of the streets in this community. I am asking that voters in this community think very seriously about their vote on the walking distance issue this year, because if the walking distance is not changed back to one mile and just one child is hurt or killed in the coming years because he or she has been forced by this community to walk on dangerous routes simply to get to or from school, this community's liability (both monetarily and morally) will be far greater than any savings it may have hoped to achieve by keeping the walking distance at 1 1/2 miles.

For the safety of our children, please vote to change the walking distance back to one mile.

Lori Keurian