Valerie Parnell, Seminole County Watch columnist

Office conversation this week included, as might be expected, the situation facing the parents at Evans Elementary School in Oviedo.

The parents there are concerned that busing for their children may be eliminated, meaning they may have to walk several miles to school and back home each day along a six-lane road.

If you have traveled along Alafaya Trail, also known as State Road 434, you can understand their concern.  You also are likely to wonder what school district officials are thinking.

It is challenging enough driving along the stretch of road from the housing subdivisions to the school, which sits on Chapman Road just east of Alafaya.  But to imagine five-year olds having to walk that stretch of road each day is downright frightening.

Cars whiz by at the posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour, if not faster.  Many of the drivers are likely to be college students heading to and from nearby University of Central Florida. 

As such, they are also likely to be more concerned and preoccupied with getting to class in the morning (and from it in the afternoon) than they are with paying attention to the presence of literal toddlers walking alongside the road.

After taking into account the school district's position and its focus on finances, it cannot be helped but to ask if we really want to put such a price on a child's life.

The school district backed off of its intentions to stop the buses several months ago, this past November, due largely to the traffic accidents in the news at that time involving children and crossing guards.

At that time, a member of the school district's Safety Advisory committee said conditions on Alafaya Trail were enough to warrant busing the students.  "I don't want to put kids in danger," she was quoted as saying in explaining why the busing should continue.

Nothing has changed since November along Alafaya Trail.  The same conditions exist now as did then.  What has changed is the school district's position, and its desire to save an estimated $127,000 in its budget.

Most disturbing about this is that it seems to be a continuation of the school district's trend to place itself above its children.  It is one thing when the issue is high school rezoning, or the naming of a school.  But when it involves a literal and obvious potential threat to a child's life, it becomes too much to ignore.

Do we really want to place such a limited value on a youngster's life?  Do we really want to gamble on such an outcome, when the "winnings" are so slight in comparison to what can be lost?

The School Board will soon give its answer.  You can give yours now.  You can help the parents' efforts to protect their children, if you are moved to do so, and hopefully you will. 

To find out what you can do, please call Susan Singer at 407-739-0325 and offer your assistance.  This is one of those rare instances when it is so obviously the right thing to do.

Send an email to Valerie Parnell