LETTER: Tired of Sam Bruce Road squabbling, angry about no air conditioning for buses

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Thursday, September 9. 2010

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Dear Editor:

I am writing because I see a wrong – and know that this needs to be addressed. I am tired of hearing about the debacle being raised for the past seven years on Sam Bruce Road, about one of our commissioners “changing paddles in the middle of the stream” so to speak and the owners – are you really our beloved “Hoss” with the 10-gallon hat and wide grin?

Fighting in and out of court and not being able to come to some conclusion to this matter – to bridge and re-open or not to bridge … and to date over $200,000 of our, the taxpayers’ money being spent on this petty squabbling, like two kids over a piece of candy. It is time, long overdue, to come to a decision – but not for “a fair market value price of $1” – do we really seem that gullible to the Madison County BOC?

Then there is the spectacle caused by the board of education and the school superintendent over his illicit affair with a “lady” from north Georgia (and I am not prone to call him a gentleman either). Over $38,000 has been used as, in my lowly opinion, a payoff once again. Once again, our, the taxpayers’ money. Not to mention the insurance scandal caused by one of the BOE members – I believe that one to be $13,000.

Interim superintendent Dr. Allen McCannon is a good, decent man, one whom I think, again in my lowly opinion, will clear the BOE’s bad name.
What I really want to address is what, or who, is being hurt the most – our children, and grandchildren, for the money, mostly “dirty-soiled” money that was spent by the BOE to oust the naughty superintendent. And on the insurance too – this money should have been spent on putting in air conditioning for the school buses in the county – something we desperately need. Is it going to take a child having a heat stroke, or being overcome by heat exhaustion for the BOE to see the light? Our children and grandchildren should, and must, be our one and foremost priority.

It is to my knowledge that some parents and grandparents and a few bus drivers have tried to address this issue before the BOE, one being told very sarcastically “and who is going to pay for this, you?”

This coming on the heels of the $51,000 they paid out to squash a scandal. Who is looking out for our children and grandchildren – certainly not the people who should be doing just that, and that alone.

Why doesn’t each member of the BOE and all the parents who do not give a rat’s behind park their respective vehicles on the school parking lot with the buses, in broiling hot temperatures from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. then drive home with the windows rolled down and no air conditioning on – only imagine an overcrowded school bus with metal rails and handles, and at least 10 to 20 degrees hotter than their vehicle!

What the BOE needs to do – then again, we are talking about the BOE – is hold an open meeting for concerned parents and grandparents with bus-riding students who can testify to the heat and the bus drivers themselves, who can also testify to how hot it can become on the buses. I think that this is the very least they can do, after the “Scandal of the Summer of 2010.”

But not for themselves, for the children – always, for the children, always.

Sincerely,

Shirley Massey

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#1 Resident Redneck on 09/09/10 at 09:05 PM [Reply]

The BOE will say they can use(waste) that money in other ways? Or AC on buses will do no good because the door stays open to much with dropping off kids? Or you can't please every kid so no matter how cool you have it there will be some that's still hot and some that are cold. Or they may say if you want your child or grandchild to ride to school in AC then you can bring them in your car? AND I agree with you if they can spend all this money on scandals why couldn't they do SOMETHING for the kids?
If the school superintendent had an illicit affair and it was grounds to get rid of him? FIRE him and don't give him a dime just a pink slip.

#2 SardonicVeracity on 09/10/10 at 07:05 AM [Reply]

When I went to school in Madison County, I rode the bus for at least two hours every day for up to 180 days a year. We had no air conditioning. I do not know how I survived this.

Perhaps there's an attorney who would like to initiate a class action suit?

#3 Bill on 09/10/10 at 08:04 AM [Reply]

Personally, I am real tired of everything "for the children – always, for the children, always." Why not let the kids feel uncomfortable once in a while? Why not save them time on the school bus and drop the kids off at prearranged places instead of the bus stopping every 30 feet in front of the next house. Can they not walk 1/4 of a mile from a bustop to thier home? If everything is always for the children, what will happen to them when everything isn't handed to them when they get older? How about the children appreacating what they do have before spoiling them more? If the children are our future, wouldn't having them now learn a little common sense and appreaciation? Wouldn't this be a better foundation for their future than expecting someone to always pander over them? Or maybe we can continue the spoiled needy generations of children/adults.

#3.1 Resident Redneck on 09/10/10 at 10:15 AM [Reply]

Bill- While I agreed with the writer of this letter about how it wasn't fair that the BOE pay for all these scandals and take the money away from the kids? I mean heck they already get everything now. The only problem I see with your post is SOME PEOPLE will say it isn't safe for kids to walk a 1/4 mile from the bus stop. Most kids today couldn't walk a 1/4 of a mile anyway? AND alot of parents say they want their kids to have what they didn't and they want their kids to have it easier than they did BUT they AIN'T helping their kids they are only hurting them in the long run?

#3.1.1 Anonymous on 09/10/10 at 02:06 PM [Reply]

There is a huge problem with childhood obesity in this county. When kids have to walk more, this is for the wellbeing OF THE CHILDREN.

#3.1.1.1 Resident Redneck on 09/10/10 at 03:20 PM [Reply]

Anonymous- But most of the parents don't care if their kids are over weight they don't want their kids to have to walk. We know it won't hurt them but the parents today don't care if the kids are in shape?

#3.1.2 Sardonic Veracity on 09/10/10 at 03:15 PM [Reply]

Not to mention riding for two hours a day... my driveway was about a 1/4 mile long to boot!

That was the serious part.

I do not know how I ever survived this. Perhaps that's why I am so sardonic in my veracity today. Too much time to contemplate being stuck by the man. I wish my parents had coddled me more!

That was the insincere part.

#3.1.2.1 Resident Redneck on 09/10/10 at 07:46 PM [Reply]

Sardonic Veracity- And did we gripe and complain about having to walk? NO.. Parents today ain't helping their kids by giving them what they want? During the summer we stayed outside all day until time to come in take a bath and go to bed. Now kids sit in front of a TV all day playing video games and eating junk food. That's why kids today can't do nothing that don't involve video games. They can tell you how to get all the way through a video game BUT can't do the simplest of things outside?

#3.2 chris on 09/10/10 at 09:23 PM [Reply]

Bill you are forgetting these are the kids so dumb they have to teach them the test. No child left the children at a point they dont learn the information they just learn how to answer test questions. Im like you I was on the buss for 2 hrs a day no ac and im fine I got sweaty but I lived I agree have a water souce on the bus whats that cost 20 bucks were as ac can cost 1000s in gas over a year. Stop spoon feeding kids and make them live life, besides all the stories we old people have to tell are about the hard time we had we never remeber the easy times. all the best stories in life are about the one time someplace it was hard.

#3.3 Brenda Brown on 09/15/10 at 04:33 AM [Reply]

Please come ride on my bus on any hot day out side.

#4 Appleannie on 09/10/10 at 10:14 AM [Reply]

We are a rural co.No paved sidewalks,no bus stop shelters.The kids will be walking in the roads and waiting in all kinds of weather not to mention it will soon be almost dark.This is ridiculous and most of all very dangerous for our children.Yeah,it is always for the children.As it should be.

#4.1 Resident Redneck on 09/10/10 at 03:36 PM [Reply]

Hey Applesauceannie- What time does it get dark where you live? Hwy.29 and Hwy.98 don't have sidewalks but it is possible to walk on both of these roads and stay out of the road. We ain't saying make the kids walk 6 hours to and from a bus stop but within a 1/4 or 1/2 mile it won't hurt them? If your child has a medical condition that prevents them from walking this far then you as a responsible parent need to pick them up at the school or bus stop.

#5 Anonymous on 09/10/10 at 12:02 PM [Reply]

Lady, that's why the buses have windows on them. If your kid is too hot, you need to teach your child how to OPEN THE WINDOW.

My child loves riding the bus, by the way, just like it is. And she loves her bus driver. Keep up the good work, y'all!

#6 linda on 09/11/10 at 08:17 PM [Reply]

when my child gets off the bus her face is so red and she is so sweaty she can barley make it up my long drive. if they dont want to put ac in the buses they need to install some fans. (im not sure how that would be done)

also, its not safe for kids to have to walk to school nowadays. when we were young it was a different world back then.

this is just my 2 cents worth.

#6.1 Resident Redneck on 09/13/10 at 12:20 AM [Reply]

linda- BUT they can't put a fan at every seat on the bus. We never had air on our buses and we didn't complain we were just happy to have a ride to and from school. I remember hearing my Dad and uncles talk about having to walk 7 or 8 miles to school.

#7 Unbelievable on 09/14/10 at 11:27 AM [Reply]

I think the original writer's main point was that we COULD have installed air on the busses with the money the BOE wasted. Any money related to Education in this county SHOULD be for the children, always...that's what it's there for.

As for the kids walking down a busy highway to the bus...what a joke! I have a 6 year old son (who is not overweight, by the way)...would you seriously want your 6 year old walking down the side of Hwy 29 to a bus stop? Through fire ants and tall grass, with people flying by at 70mph? What if the little guy tripped and fell out into the road? Furthermore, have you checked the family watchdog site lately to see just how many sexual predators live in our county? I can barely see the road from my house, much less a bus stop 1/4 mile away, and that's true for many Madison County residents...putting up a bus stop out of sight of concerned parents is putting up a child supermarket for these predators. And yes, it will be getting dark around 5:00 soon and there are still busses on the road then...and guess what? They're picking kids up before 6am...isn't it still dark then? It is where I live.

There are two issues here, comfort and safety...ok, gripe about people worrying that fat Little Johnny got sweaty on the bus all you want to, but the idea of bus stops in this county is just absurd. Even trying to align the two in your argument makes the part that's slightly sensical pretty much moot (not mute).

#7.1 Resident Redneck on 09/14/10 at 05:25 PM [Reply]

Ok Unbelievable- With the way the BOE waste "EDUCATION MONEY" looks like ALL kids will be walking all the way to school Even little FAT JOHNNY? If the BOE will stop paying for all these scandals I don't care if every bus pullsup to every hock up and drop off every kid.
I still stand by the thought that IF YOU FIRE SOMEONE they don't get paid another dime? When you are fired there was a reason for it so why pay someone all this money after you fire them? UNLESS they know something on the other BOE members and thisey they are paying is HUSH money?

#8 Anonymous on 09/19/10 at 11:15 AM [Reply]

Problem Solved....start school later. Why start school in the "dog days of summer", and have 2.5 months of grueling heat? If the state wants our kids to start earlier along with the heat, then they should provide better bus conditions.

#8.1 Resident Redneck on 09/19/10 at 03:00 PM [Reply]

Anonymous- YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. This SHOULD be a state problem not a local one. BUT they will say if they start school 2.5 months later then the kids will have to go to school 2.5 months longer at the end of the regular school year. You have a good ideal BUT like any good suggestion made to the BOE or goverment they will find someway to shoot it down?

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LETTER: Tired of Sam Bruce Road squabbling, angry about no air conditioning ...

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LETTER: Tired of Sam Bruce Road squabbling, angry about no air conditioning for buses

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