By Bailey Quinonez

Staff Writer

Transportation zones won't change any time soon but just in case "exigent circumstances" do arise, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a modification to the amendment process on Monday, June 23 that has left some parents uneasy.

The amendment allows for a shorter public hearing time because the Board of Education said they foresee higher gas prices that might force a revision of the transportation zones.

MCCPTA president Kay Romero said that even though the amendment is in reaction to the rising fuel prices, the prices are nothing new and should have been included in the budget. "Fuel prices have been rising for quite some time. That was true during the formulation of this budget. What is unknown is just how high the price of fuel may be in the future," said Romero.

"The problem that I had with it was the no-public-comment part but as long as there is the 21 days I have no problem with it," said Lyda Astrove, a MCPS parent and Parent's Coalition member. At the end of the June 9 BOE meeting, the suggested amendment read "expedited public comment." It was changed to "21 days for public comment."

On Monday, June 23, the Board of Education voted unanimously for the addition of the amendment. "I'm very glad the board had the courage to put this on the table," said School Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast of the board's "forward thinking" approach.

The finalized and accepted amendment reads, "In exigent circumstances, the superintendent may apply to the Board of Education for a waiver to temporarily adjust transported distances. Board action on the waiver request can be taken after allowing at least 21 days for public comment following publication of the waiver request. If the Board deems an emergency exists, this notification provision may be waived without notice if all Board members are present and there is unanimous agreement."

"The superintendent asked for flexibility. We felt it was a legitimate request. We had a lot of discussion about expedited public comment ... 21 days has already been vetted by the public. It is already allowed in the policy on policy setting," said Board member Sharon Cox.

The policy that influenced the section on public comments reads: "The tentatively adopted policy will lie on the table for at least 21 days before being voted upon as final action. (If the Board deems an emergency exists, this provision may be waived without notice if all members are present and there is unanimous agreement.)"

"What would be the harm in waiting the full comment period at least as prescribed under this policy? This board should allow parents to weigh in to guide this board should discussion turn to increased walking distances for students," asked Romero. At the board meeting, Cox stressed that the amendment did not translate into total elimination of the public comment period. The comment period could merely be shortened, she said.

The current walking distance for student transportation in Montgomery County is one mile for elementary schools, 1.5 miles for middle schools and two miles for high schools. Prince George's County maximum walking distances are 1.5 miles for elementary schools and two miles for secondary schools. Fairfax County maximum walking distances is one mile for elementary schools and 1.5 miles for secondary schools.

"I don't think it's safe but it makes sense with the rising gas prices," said Ryan Bingaman, who runs a basketball camp for elementary and middle school children with Rockville at the Twinbrook Recreation Center. "I think that the school system should come up with the money to pay for that. But it is a crisis all around."

Twinbrook Elementary School 3rd grader Jose Ravelo said that his classmates who live outside Rockville would "get mad" if they were forced to walk to school. Ravelo specifically talked about a classmate who lives in Silver Spring.

"His mom goes to work at 6 a.m. and it would be hard for her to drop him off early," he said. Ravelo doesn't have to deal with walking too far to school even should a change take place because he lives literally across the street from the school.

"School buses are the safest form of transporting our children to school," said Romero. "If bus service is cut, whether or not these affected children walk or ride, our children will be put at greater risk. Traffic would increase on our roads. There would be increased safety issues/traffic flow patterns that schools would now have to address." Cox assured Romero on Monday night that the change would not in any way affect the safety requirements in the rest of the policy.

"I know people are upset ... about losing current walking. We are not starring down a gun barrel but the oil barrel," said Weast, "Of course we hope we never have to use it but we will have to use something if the County Council doesn't come through [with extra funds]."