PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Should the first round of SEPTA cuts go through as planned on Aug. 24, it'll affect thousands of Philadelphia school students.
District-wide, more than 50,000 students ride SEPTA to school. Many of the 1,600 students at Baldi Middle School in Bustleton take SEPTA to school. There, four SEPTA bus routes that serve the school would be discontinued: 88, 476, 478 and 490.
Principal Bianca Gillis said it would be a 40-minute walk from Baldi's closest feeder school.
She acknowledges that students who would have to transfer to different routes or take longer walks may not always get to school on time.
"The service reductions for us — it can lead to increased lateness and absenteeism," Gillis said.
She released a message on Friday on the communication platform ClassDojo, alerting parents and offering translations.
"This just gives instability to families. So it can become like a logistical nightmare and places unreasonable demands on our students if they are choosing to walk," Gillis said.
"We have a lot of families who don't speak English at home and will have to navigate it."
Superintendent Tony Watlington, in an interview, said the district would be cutting late students some slack.
"We will absolutely not penalize any child for any attendance issues that are no problem that they created."
Gillis said her school was holding out hope that the cuts would not occur, but was trying to prepare parents either way.
Negotiations will continue as cuts go into effect. SEPTA is reducing service by 20%, eliminating 32 bus routes, shortening 16 others, and running less frequent service on 88 remaining lines.
On Sept. 1, a 21.5% fare increase takes effect, as well as a hiring freeze. The base fare will also increase to $2.90. Regional Rail service cuts take effect on Sept. 2.