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Parents decry school transit plan

Philadelphia school officials last evening heard a small but passionate group of parents and education advocates speak in near unified opposition to proposed policy changes that could result in upward of 13,500 students losing free transportation service this fall.

Philadelphia school officials last evening heard a small but passionate group of parents and education advocates speak in near unified opposition to proposed policy changes that could result in upward of 13,500 students losing free transportation service this fall.

With an eye toward helping to reduce a budget deficit, school district officials are mulling three proposals, each of which would result in fewer free SEPTA TransPasses being given to seventh- through 12th-graders who attend public, charter and nonpublic schools.

One proposal would extend from 1.5 miles or more to 2 miles or more the distance that students must live from school to be eligible for free transportation. An estimated 7,000 students would lose service under this proposal.

Another proposal would require that students maintain 85 percent attendance to be eligible. An estimated 6,500 students would lose service under this proposal.

The third option would be to approve both the distance and attendance proposals.

The school district's governing School Reform Commission has not set a date to vote on which proposal to adopt, if any.

But many of the 15 speakers at last night's forum rejected all three. They expressed fears that the proposals would result in financial hardships on students, would force them to walk through dangerous neighborhoods and would aggravate the city's truancy problem.

Sources said that members of City Council also have reservations about the proposals and may send a letter expressing their concerns to school officials today.

"What efforts are going to be made for safe corridors as these children pass through areas where there are drugs and gangs and guns?" Carol A. Carson, chief of the adoption branch of the city's Department of Children and Youth Services, asked during yesterday's meeting.

"Are you going to employ more police officers, are there going to be more guards, is there going to be somebody out there watching as these children are traveling?" Carson asked the three senior school officials who conducted the meeting.

Katherine Conrad told the officials that Central High, a top academic magnet school where her daughter is an honor student, is 1.5 miles from their Olney home. "The streets between Central and our home are not safe," she said. "Putting children in jeopardy by taking away a safe route home each day to meet a budget shortfall is no solution, and just does not make sense."

City Consumer Advocate Lance Haver said that the transportation proposals eventually would shift costs to the city in the form of having to police truants and dropouts.

He said that SEPTA has a $130 million "rainy-day" fund, some of which should be tapped to cover students' passes. Until SEPTA's board is asked to do so, Haver said, the reform commission should hold off on making changes.

"SEPTA has a huge surplus, they have 130 million dollars in a rainy-day fund," he said. "Any student who doesn't get a TransPass is going to be rained on trying to get to school."

Richard Maloney, a SEPTA spokesman, said that the $130 million is not a rainy-day fund, but is dedicated funding that the state gave the transit authority last year to fund various operations.

"It's becoming an urban legend that we have this big stock of extra money," Maloney said. "We've had groups say, 'Now that you have this extra funding, give it to us.'

"Well, it does not exist. It is predictable, dedicated funding from the state for SEPTA operations."

Fred Farlino, the school district's interim chief operating officer, said that the concerns expressed at the hearing mirrored the majority of other feedback received. That includes about 300 online surveys, 4,000 phone surveys and between 300 to 400 mailed-in surveys.

"Parents understand the dilemma," Farlino said. "I think they are looking for outside strategies, some magic bullet other than one of the three solutions that we have."

From 1 to 3 p.m. today, another public forum will be held on the transportation proposals at the School District Administration Building, 440 N. Broad Street.