Budget cuts may have not directly led to the death of an 8-year-old Cincinnati boy, but there is a definite connection between increased safety and school busing.
It was a headline that grabbed me instantly, “Budget Cuts Kept Boy Killed By Car Off School Bus.” Sensationalistic? Yes. But it had its roots in reality. The boy, an 8-year-old named Devar Washington, was crossing the street when he was struck and killed. Cincinnati Public School officials confirmed the fact that Devar’s route was cut due to budget constraints, keeping him off the bus and putting him on the streets because he lived one mile or less from his school.
This is just one case of what could happen if more and more budgets are cuts, routes reduced and children kicked off the bus. I won’t rehash the statistics we’ve all heard about how the school bus reduces congestion, but it only takes some common sense to see how less children on the roads and fewer cars could equate to a reduction in the number of accidents involving pedestrians.
For some, school has already begun and for others it will begin this week. I’m sure a number of you have seen some changes to your department due to budget constraints. But when is the time to sit back and say, “What am I supposed to do?” And when is the time to stand up and speak all too unreal and uneasy truths?
The parents of Devar Washington are going through something that is too horrible to imagine. What reasoning would cost-cutters be able to give them that would justify what happened and why it never had to happen in the first place?
