Nora Hernandez-Huapilla - - Dead because she wanted to get to school
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Such a tragedy no parent should have to endure. Nora was on her way to her regular bus-stop.
So she was 17 years old, and she should have known better, and been more careful, than to cross against the green. But what ever happened to cherishing & protecting our most valuable, our future, the children? I got picked up for High School by a bus on a four lane road while in High School. I walked up my street, with my neighbor to the intersection with a main town road. But the bus stopped on my side of the road, on the way back instead of when they first came by, and I did not have to cross any lanes, unlike Nora Hernandez-Huapilla.
Nora Hernandez-Huapilla is dead, in part, because according to a previous complaint, the Bus driver was not waiting for students approaching the bus-stop when the bus was there. Nora was excited to deliver the Christmas Cards she had written to her friends. Unfortunately between her, and her bus stop, was a 6 lane road.
So what did the Pinellas School District Superintendent Julie Janssen have to say about it????
"You know those are decisions that parents make when they choose to allow their children to go to a school that's not their zoned school. The information was given at the beginning that we would provide arterial transportation, and it was a requirement for the parents to get the children to those stops. And it's a choice that a family makes to have a child stay at a school that's different than the assigned school."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/family-of-girl-killed-while-trying-to-get-to-the-bus-stop-had-complained/1059903I am sorry, but where I grew up, you do not die because you wanted to go to a better school.
A child should not die because she was worried about missing a bus.
A child should not die because a 6 lane highway is between her and her education/friends.
And lastly, A child's safety should be the Most Important Issue. Only a safe child can attend school to learn and grow. This was a failure on many levels. And unfortunately all one can hope for is that everybody learns from the situation and changes are made so that this never happens again.
Now before you make a remark about how Nora Hernandez-Huapilla was 17, let me tell you about where I went to college. ERAU is in Daytona Beach, and I was surprised that in one of my Engineering courses they gave a project to every class to estimate the costs/benefits of building a pedestrian bridge across Clyde Morris Blvd to a satellite campus. It too was a 6 lane road, but the administration saw the danger. It took a few years, but eventually a Pedestrian overpass was built. So I ask you, if a pedestrian overpass is needed for College level students, why would we require our High School Students to cross a 6 lane road, imperiling their life.
I have no idea how one is to deal with this as a parent. I can not even begin to think how dark this holiday season, and future ones, will be due to this When I was a courier in NYC I found it unbelievable that in the worst parts of the city patrol cars followed children home from all schools north south east and west. I could not believe that children needed police escorts to get to and from school. Now all I can think is where was the support protecting our most valuable investment???
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