Press Release
Date: September 29, 2008
TO: The Concerns Citizens of Marion County
FROM: The Schee Family
REFERENCE: Proposed School Bus Reform
As we promised in our last press release, please find attached a series of proposals
that we have formulated for consideration to present to the officials that are
charged with public safety of all our school children that ride the buses in Marion
County. We would like this proposal to serve as a framework that can be used to
develop a more comprehensive and complete safety plan for the children.
These proposals are by no means final, nor are these plans set in stone. The
proposals that we are setting forth are designed to bring people into the process and
to cultivate the collective intellect of not only government officials, but to also
include the citizens of Marion County and especially the parents of any child that
has to ride the bus. Let me remind everyone that I still have three children that have
to ride the bus to and from school everyday, so this situation means a great deal to
me and my family.
I want to thank a few local elected officials that have reached out to my family and
asked for this input, because of the leadership of Belleview City Councilman, Mike
Goldman and School Board Member Steve Herring concerning this issue, I will be
presenting this proposal to their public safety committee in the next few days.
I want to make one thing else CRYSTAL CLEAR, I have been attacked in a few
local online blogs and I want to set the record straight for everyone to know.
1. No one associated with me or my family has hired any “Slick P/R Firm to
represent us”. These press releases are being written on my deceased
daughter’s computer from her bedroom in my Mobile Home in Citra
Florida.
2. We have not even engaged any legal representation at this time.
3. We are not experts in anything, except how to be a parent, so no to everyone
who wanted to know what expertise we have, none except good old fashion
North Marion County “Horse Sense.”
4. We will have some other comments later concerning the lack of assistance
that we have been shown by some Marion County Public Officials when we
asked for help in releasing information to the press,
5. The truck driver, my Christian Faith requires me to observe the concept of
forgiveness, Not forgiveness for the laws of man that he may or may not have
broke, but I know at some point I must forgive him on a spiritual level,
please pray for me that God will grant me such strength.
Thank you for your time and consideration and your prays for our family, let’s
all work together to protect our children so no other mother has to worry about
whether or not her child will come home safe to her from the school bus.
Elissa Schee
Proposal to Improve Public Safety on Public School
Buses
By Elissa Schee
Introduction
I know that everyone involved with this process has at their core, the
belief that there is no more precise cargo that our public institutions
carry then our children. So public safety of our children must come
first and I know everyone agrees with me on this point. With that in
mind, please find listed below a list of proposals that I would like to
put forth to this committee for consideration and input in developing
a comprehensive plan for improving school bus safety.
1. A complete and comprehensive onsite review of ALL school bus
stops in Marion County must be conducted. This review should be
conducted by a group of concerned citizens of Marion County and
a group of local politicians. The School Board or Department of
Transportation should NOT have the final say so in this matter,
nor should they have control of the process or the final report.
Their input will be necessary, but the final report should the
product of the review committee.
2. We should seek to eliminate ALL bus stops that are on Major
Highways in Marion County. In order to facilitate this change I
am proposing the following solutions:
A. Where currently bus stops are located on major 4 lane
highways in Marion County. We seek to find either Public
Facilities or perhaps Churches to be used as central drop
off points for the children. The parents could drop off their
children at these points and the buses could then come to
these safe places and get off the highway and pick up the
children in a safe and orderly manner. A sheriff’s deputy or
Public Safety Officer could be assigned to each of these
Centralized Locations to protect the children waiting to be
picked up. Another added benefit of this plan is this would
save the county money in lower fuel costs.
B. Another Alternative is to build small concrete pads so the
bus could pull complete off the road and load and unload
the children in that manner. The bus would still deploy the
safety signals and stop signs as they presently are required
to do and the public would still be required to stop and
observe the laws that are currently being enforced. This
proposal is not intended for all bus stops, but only for those
bus stops that can not be changed from major 4 lane
highways.
C. Move the bus stops to side road or small less used roads that
intersect the major highways. Create the bus stop here to
reduce the chances of bus/truck accident.
3. I would like for the committee to review the number of
children that are being placed on each bus. It appears that the
School Board decided to reduce the number of buses and bus
stops. I think this issue needs to be reviewed.
In conclusion, this is only a series of proposals that I feel need
to be explored. Input from people, citizens and the political
infrastructure will be needed and encouraged. No more talk
from the people in charge of this process currently of Laws,
Rules, and Regulations can be or will be tolerated. If the rules
prevent a solution to this problem then the rules should be
changed, if Laws prevent a solution to this problem, then the
laws will be changed. If bureaucrats get in the way of a
solution then they need to seek other employment
opportunities. People involved in this situation are either part
of the problem or part of the solution and everyone needs to
decide which side they are on.