Fulton schools tweak bus schedules

When Sheila Shoemaker received a letter in the mail Wednesday informing her that her children would no longer be able to ride the bus to Bartley Elementary School because their home on Ashton Circle is too close, she came to the sobering realization that the transportation she had relied upon for 10 years has fallen victim to Fulton Public Schools' shrinking transportation budget.

"I've had kids at Bartley for 10 years and we've always been able to use the bus," Shoemaker said Thursday. "A few weeks ago I got a letter saying they were consolidating the elementary and middle school students onto the same bus that would pick them up at the top of the street. Then today I got a letter saying that my elementary kids won't get to ride the bus at all. My high school and middle school kids will get a bus, but not the elementary students."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.