Laurels & lances: School buses and school boards

Laurel: To law enforcement. When it comes to keeping people safe or making things work properly, the first thing people think is often “someone should pass a law.” Often, however, what really needs to be done is to pay attention to a law that has already been passed.

That’s particularly important when it comes to getting children safely to and from school. Everyone should know the law as it applies to school buses — namely, a school bus with its stop sign out is a nonnegotiable indication you stop and wait.

It sometimes isn’t quick. Have you ever tried to wrangle a 5-year-old in and out of a vehicle? It can be challenging. But it’s important because of the danger. Drive around a bus when you shouldn’t, and the consequences could be deadly — especially in rural areas that might have twisty roads and no sidewalks.

South Armstrong Regional Police are cracking down on the bus safety violations in the Freeport and Leechburg school districts. All departments should be on the lookout in every district because PennDOT data show 17,000 kids end up in emergency rooms every year because of bus-related incidents; an average of 19 of them die.

Pay attention to those buses — and the kids getting on or off. Whatever you have planned isn’t worth what could happen if you don’t.

Lance: To kicking the can. Parents of Hempfield Area School District middle school students will have to continue to wonder where their children will be going to class next year.

The school board has punted its decision on an updated redistricting plan to May 8. This is just the latest in a long line of decisions and nondecisions related to the $128 million high school renovation project.

A March plan had students from Youngwood, Edgewood Manor and Timber Ridge Court areas set to go to Wendover Middle School. Now, a proposal would kick them over to West Hempfield Middle, while Fort Allen kids go to Wendover. Ninth graders are sent to spend the 2023-24 school year at Harrold Middle School during the construction project.

The new twist is in response to a parent survey in the affected neighborhoods, with 27 out of 30 parents requesting their children be at West Hempfield, which would disrupt class size. Youngwood students weren’t included in the plan at all and needed to be considered.

This is a complicated process. It needs to be handled thoughtfully and with consideration, and kudos to the district for paying attention to what will work for families. But parents also need to plan their complicated lives around things such as child care, siblings, work hours, custody and more.

The whole process feels like a kid who has all year to write his term paper and hasn’t — and just realized it’s due next week. Get your homework done, Hempfield.