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Show HS? ST - r, too ,'ii !''r ext. 4. v - ur.s:; Potential Flood Problems Still Spooky to state Listening geologist Bruce Kaliser was a little spooky. Theres a high potential of more to come he says. Vegetarian Views (C Golf Maxed Out 12) " - f ' - - ' (C Society, Church, Obituaries DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL 197 North Mata Layton, Utah 84041 Phone Published weekly by 546-473- 5 CUPPER PUBLISHING CO. John Stahle, Jr .Publisher Entered and Second Class Postage Paid at Layton Utah Sutscnpton - 450 per year Vicc Ot NUMBER TEN VOLUME SEVENTY - EIGHT Davis County (USPS 32 1492-600- pages . . Wednesday, june 22, 1983 Dozens Of Heather, Parkdale Parents Plead Por Busing By DONETA GATHERUM LAYTON - Mommy, I cant walk any more, one small child cried last Friday afternoon as she and her mother attempted to walk from their home in the Dawson Hollow area of -- Layton to the East Layton Elementary School. THE CHILD and her mother were two of several scores of parents and children that met Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. to walk the route elementary aged school children living in the Park Dale and Heather Hills subdivision will school year have to take during the 1983-8- 4 unless Davis School District officials change their minds and declare the walking route a hazardous one. These two subdivisions are bordered on the south by Cherry Lane, on the north by Kays Creek, on the east by 1700 East and on the west by the North Heather Drive. The distance from this neighborhood to East Layton Elementary School is just under 1.5 miles. Many children live down in the bottom of Dawson Hollow and have to walk up steep hills to reach Cherry Lane, the main road leading to the school. PARENTS living in this section of Layton became concerned about having their children walk to school when they learned the school boundaries had been changed. The children would not attend E.G. King Elementary. They were assigned to East Layton Elementary. No bus transportation would be provided. Since E.G. King school opened several years ago, the children living in the Heather Hills-ParDale subdivisions had been bused to school. k PARENTS immediately started to contact Dr. Richard Butler, chairman of a transportation advisory committee that decided which students in the county would be bused. The parents also mentioned their concerns to Dee Forbes, Board of Education member from Layton as to other members of the Board of Education. As a group the parents attenued board of education meetings on several occasions. Ronna Millgate, Kathy Ravenberg and Kris Leishman are three mothers that have done much of the work to make parents and educators aware of the problems that face children walking to school along Cherry Lane. OUR ONLY concern is the safety of our children. Cherry Lane is not a safe road for anyone to walk along, explains Mrs. Mill-gat- The women go on to point problems. e. ut some of the MANY CHILDREN live down in the bottom of the hollow. In the wintertime the bus wont go down there. It would be impossible for children to walk up out of the hollow and to school during periods of bad weather. Many parents cant get out of their yards to drive their children to school. There would be 106 children walking along Cherry Lane to school. The breakdown by age group is as follows: kindergarten, 19; 1st grade, 20; 2nd grade, 13; 3rd grade, 13; 4th grade, 18; 5th grade, 16; 6th grade, 7. CHERRY LANE is a winding road. There are three blind curves and two hills en route to school. Vard A. Dailey, former East Layton City Councilman lives on one of the curves. In a letter to the school board, Mr. Dailey stated, The most danger to pedestrians occurs in the afternoon when westbound motorists are blinded by the afternoon sun as they round the comer from shade to bright sunlight. Seeing pedestrians is made even more difficult by the downhill grade just after the curve. A similar traffic problem is encountered by during the morning hours. Cherry Lane is the only road passing through East Layton from Highway 89 to Fair-fiel- d and is the route used by many in this community to go to and from work, Mr. Dailey continued. east-boun- d THE THREE women interviewed for this article continued listing several other problems with the walking route. There are no sidewalks along Cherry Lane. There is no shoulder on either side of the road. Children would have to walk on the surface of the road. In the winter time or during periods of rainy weather, there would be no place where the children could walk safely. Layton City crews plow only one lane down Cherry Lane when it snows. NEW DEVELOPMENT in the area especially the construction of two subdivisions would increase the traffic flow onto Cherry Lane. Cement trucks and other construction vehicles would compound the already serious problem. The information gathered by Mrs. Millgate, Mrs. Ravenberg, Mrs. Leishman and others was prepared in a packet form and distributed to Board of Education members before the June 7 board meeting in which busing routes were decided. Included in the packet was a petition signed by all the parents of elementary school-ag- e children living in Park Dale and Heather Hills plus the signatures of other area residents who are concerned about the problem. MRS. RAVENBERG said One man BUILDING SUPPORT wanted to sign the petition that doesnt have any children. He said he is fearful of hitting a child who is walking along the road. Busing is supported by everyone living here." The packet and the petition were not mentioned at the board of education meeting. Chairman Sheryl Allen did give the citizens attending the meeting 10 minutes to state their position. She requested that if a person had spoken at a previous meeting that the person not speak at the meeting where the busing decision was made. THE LEADERS of the movement to secure Hills children a bus for the Park point out several inconsistencies in the school Dale-Heath- er officials policies and reasoning. Mrs. Leishman said, We talked to several officials and we get different stories. Some say they havent been approached about the problem before. Others say there is no availability of buses. Still others claim buses are not the problem. There is no money. MRS. LEISHMAN says another inconsistency is that the children living south of 1300 N. and west of Emerald who were bused to Kathy Ravenberg, left, and Ronna Millgate, both parents of youngin the east Layton area of Cherry Lane and Oakridge Drive, are mustering parental support seeking busing for their children when school resumes in the fall. sters E.G. King last year will receive a bus to transport them to East Layton. These children would have to walk along Oakridge Drive, another long roadway without curb, guttering or sidewalk. The walking distance in the two cases are about the same. The children living along Oakridge could cut through the Wooded Hills subdivision and enter at the rear of East Layton Elementary School grounds. We dont want to see these people denied a bus. They need one as badly as we do. We just want equal treatment for both groups, stated Mrs. Ravenberg. BUSES WERE allocated to children living less than 1.5 miles from an elementary school but along a hazardous route on the basis of a point system developed by Dr. Richard Butler and members of the transportation advisory committee. The point system considered several factors including vehicle factor (number of cars, trucks using the route), speed limit, number of walking students, age level of the students, traffic crossing walks, marked sidewalks, stop signs and the type of roadway. THE OAKRIDGE route received 586 points. The Cherry Lane route received only 386. was 581. THE CUT-OFFirmly convinced that their children need F school bus transportation, the parent-committ- representing residents of Park Dale and Heather Hills are still contacting school officials and still gathering information. LAST FRIDAY afternoon the parents got a committment from two school board members to walk the route. The time set up for the walk was 3 p.m. Dee Forbes and Bob McIntosh were the board members that said they would look over the situation. Mr. McIntosh was detained in Salt Lake on business so he didnt meet the 3 p.m. commitment. THE TWO men arrived at the Cherry Lane and Emerald Drive intersection at 5 p.m. They drove the route with Mr. Millgate. In a telephone conversation held late Friday evening, Mr. Forbes stated, We drove the route with Mr. Millgate and observed some of the hazards. We are still listening. ! ( KIDS SHOULDN'T WALK Cherry Lane in east Layton shouldn't be the scene of youngsters having to walk to school, especially on slippery dark winter days when it can be hard for drivers to see them or navigate without weather-relate- d problems, dozens of area parents feel. BUSING SOUGHT Residents of the Oakridge Drive area in east Layton are hoping they can convince the board of education to bus their children to school come fall, citing lack of sidewalks and other potential hazards shown partially in this photo. r |