A new controversy may be brewing in the Roslyn School District, this one concerning transportation issues.

Earlier this month, district residents were informed about a change in the district's transportation policy. A letter from interim Superintendent Gerald W. Dempsey, Jr., confirmed that the school district will now designate corner bus stops as places for grade school students to catch the morning bus. In the past, students in grades 1-5 were picked up and dropped off in front of their residences.

The letter, dated Aug. 7, states that while performing a comprehensive review of the district's transportation program, the board of education "considered a number of proposals designed to bring greater consistency and cost efficiency to the [district's] busing operation."

That included a proposal, eventually adopted by the BOE, one that will "consolidate most student pick ups at corner stops." According to Dempsey, the proposal will save Roslyn taxpayers $125,000 in the coming fiscal year.

The new policy will, as noted, affect students in grades 1-5. Kindergarten practices, Dempsey added, will remain the same. Bus stop assignments, Dempsey further stated, will arrive in the mail in "the next few weeks." He said that any specific questions about bus routes and stops may be directed to the school district's Transportation Department at 625-6324.

In his letter, Dempsey also said that there will not be any change in the mileage eligibility guidelines for bus transportation. He also addressed safety concerns, writing: "the board of education and I have every confidence that our caring and conscientious staff will continue to provide a safe transportation program for all students."

Meanwhile, The Roslyn News has been informed that the issue will be the subject of conversation at the Aug. 17 board of education meeting, one held at 8 p.m. in the Administration Building on the grounds of Roslyn High School. According to Roslyn resident Harold Morgenstern "over 100 people" have made commitments to voice their opinion on the new policy.

Above all, residents are expressing safety concerns over the new busing operations. Morgenstern notes that the 35th Annual National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey reports that 14 students "were killed by their own school bus in the 2004-2005 year." This number represents a 300 percent increase over the previous four-year average and that of those deaths, 5 and 6-year-old students represented the largest category of student fatalities.

Of special concern to parents is the fact that most neighborhoods in the Roslyn School District are without sidewalks. Students may walk on their neighbor's property on the way to the bus stop, Morgenstern said. However, he added, there will be times when they will have to walk on the street, where cars may be traveling at 30 MPH or greater.

Morgenstern also brought up the matter of child abductions and the increased traffic congestion in the entire Roslyn area. Plus, he said, in the winter, when the snow is deep, grade school students will have to trample in the high snowfall on their neighbor's lawns or walk on streets with tall snow drifts caused by snow plowing operations.

The bus survey itself lists reasons on why young students are often in peril at bus sites. That includes a youngsters' "hurry to get on or off the bus," a habit to "act before they think," their "little experience" with traffic, the fact that children "assume motorists will see them and will wait for them to cross" and that children don't always stay within the bus driver's sight.