Sign Petition to Locate School Bus Parking Lots Away From Schools and Neighborhoods

Already, hundreds of concerned Wayland citizens have signed on to protect our children, our neighbors, our school communities, and our town. Please join us in asking our Wayland officials to work together to find a solution to the school bus parking issue that does not affect our children, our teachers, and our neighbors.

The School Committee has taken some of the sites off of the list for School Bus Parking, but not all. Wayland Middle School and Claypit Hill School are still on the list.

If either of these sites are chosen as the location for the 21 diesel school buses, hundreds of children, their teachers, and neighbors will be affected.

School Committee members are going to put out a request for proposals for leasing land, however, in the request, they have stipulated the buses be no more than 4 miles from the center of town. That criterion narrows the field of acceptable options significantly.

Another option that is being explored is the old landfill located south of Route 20. DPW is looking there for a laydown area. Apparently, there are about 9 acres at that site. Old reports that we found suggested the land might be usable since they will not be digging foundations or putting in septic tanks. If it is suitable for DPW use, and there is also room for buses, we would like to see this option well vetted for school bus parking.

A number of people throughout town are learning about the school bus problem.

Concerns include the following:

Health

Diesel pollutants are known to cause cancer, neurological disease, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease.

EPA says children, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions are most at risk.

The schools and playing fields are in close proximity to the places they want to put the 21 buses, which make multiple runs daily. Particulate matter that is sent into the air by the buses is extremely bad for people. The particles do not dissipate, they fall to the ground and can be kicked back up into the air, inhaled by people.

An EPA document says that schools should be located a MINIMUM of 500 feet from busy roads containing vehicular pollution and that background pollution levels are attained at 2,000 feet. Both schools and school yards will be located less than 500 feet from the parking lot where 21 diesel powered buses will emit toxic pollutants.

Safety

The plan will increased traffic in already congested areas.

Mixing of pedestrian traffic with vehicular traffic is a bad idea.

Both sites are wide open and in places where kids congregate. The buses should be located away from such sites and enclosed in a secure area.

Noise

Wayland has a bylaw that protects against noise pollution. The existing plans, have the buses parked very close to homes and the schools. Some plans have the buses less than 100 feet from neighbor's properties.

The buses start as early as 5:30 in the morning and, according to the bus company owner, the alarms often go off as the drivers are doing their safety checks.

The buses will be distracting for the students. They make multiple runs a day.

Environment
The Middle School location has the buses parked in an aquifer protection zone and a Zone II wellhead protection zone.

Claypits' location is just feet from an aquifer protection zone.

Any leaking fuel or oil and any of the diesel pollutants that fall to the ground could end up in our drinking water.

We have started a change.org petition. Already, people from all over town, people with young children, school aged children, and grown children have signed on to show their support. Bottom line is we care about our town and its citizens.

We hope to deliver our petition to The Board of Selectmen, FinComm, and the School Committee in early June and will be collecting signatures until the end of Memorial Day Weekend.

Please consider signing on and please share this with Wayland friends and neighbors.

https://www.change.org/p/wayland-school-committee-remove-wayland-middle-school-and-claypit-hill-school-as-sites-for-school-bus-parking