Tsuga Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/10/president-obama-signs-first-federal-free You can love the overall legislation, you can hate it. But the idea that I can't get CPS called on me if my nine-year-old misses the bus and walks a very familiar .8 miles to school makes me incredibly happy. And unfortunately, yes, it had to be said. Because this country is crazy. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Seems like a no brainer to me. Kids as young as kindy do it every day in our neighborhood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 A new elementary school opened across the street from our neighborhood this year. They have an adult crossing guard to stop traffic so the kids can cross over the busy road to it. No one in our neighborhood is more than one mile from the school. You should have heard the parents complaining that we don't get bus service! Most kids are walking, but yes, there are parents who either drive them across the street to school or drive them up to the crosswalk to drop them off. Ack! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 The law doesn't exactly legislate free range, but at least a statement is made that walking to school is still a possibility in the USA. And yes, unfortunately, it did need to be said. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Wow..so weird. Plenty of kids here walk to school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Tons of kids in my area walk to various schools every day. They are expected to walk or be dropped off because bus service is only provided for little kids more than a mile or mile and a half from their elementary and 2 miles from their middle school or high school unless their walking route is dangerous (though crossing a very busy side street without a crossing guard is NOT considered dangerous - my boys had to do that every day they were in public school). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 The law does not preempt local or state laws though, so it doesn't necessarily mean much. Here kids can walk to school or the bus stop alone starting in 1st grade (I don't know if that's the school district's rules of local/state law). Bus service is only provided to kids living more than a certain distance from school (not sure... 0.5 miles? 1 mile? We live 2 miles from school, so I have no clue). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 I think it's more a symbolic shout out to people who are looking at their neighbors wondering if they could get in trouble given the recent issues parents had letting kids walk to the park. No, it's not a detailed law but I think it sets the right tone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I have heard of areas that had rules where nobody was allowed to walk to school. Not anywhere I've ever lived, but yes I have heard of this. In the previous area that I lived, anyone would be bussed if they didn't have side walks on any of the streets they'd need to travel on to get to the school irregardless of distance. The majority of bus riders were based on distance though. I think the no sidewalk reason is reasonable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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