The Virginia Gazette
Brandy Centolanza
WILLIAMSBURG -- A well-intentioned attempt to preserve the private road
in a neighborhood has left two handicapped children struggling to catch
the bus.
For two years, homeowners of Shellis Square condominiums on Merrimac
Trail have refused to permit WJC school buses to travel the loop,
claiming the heavy buses damage roads and sidewalks. Yet trucks are okay.
As a result, Kelley Campbell and Tomeka Cox have to trek through the
neighborhood with their disabled children so the kids can board the
school bus as it drives along Merrimac Trail. Both girls attend the NEED
Center at Norge Elementary.
Campbell's 5-year-old daughter, Brittany, has spina bifida, a condition
that results from the failure of the spine to close properly during the
first month of pregnancy. She is only able to walk with the aid of a
walker or crutches and sometimes is confined to a wheelchair.
"It's a struggle," Kelley Campbell said of the trek to the bus. "Because
it takes longer for Brittany to get on the bus, sympathetic neighbors
and drivers on Merrimac Trail have taken it upon themselves to break the
law and go around the bus, even though the safety signals are flashing
and the stop sign is sticking out."
Cox faces a similar problem. Her 4-year-old daughter, Tamia, has been
diagnosed with Type 1 Lissencephaly, a brain disorder that affects motor
and cognitive skills. Tamia can neither walk nor talk, so her mother
must carry her to the bus stop all the way from the back of the complex.
The distances are several hundred yards, which is significant for
handicapped kids.
"We are expected to go to the front entrance in rain, snow, sleet, hail
-- everything," Cox said. "My daughter is prone to pneumonia, so I often
have to keep her home from school when the is bad weather."
Both women rent their homes in Shellis Square. Campbell has lived there
for at least a decade, while Cox moved in last November.
Earlier this month, Cox pleaded with the homeowners association board to
at least allow the smaller buses in that are exclusively for handicapped
students. She didn't succeed.
"I asked them point-blank what the reason was that the school buses
couldn't come into the complex," Cox said. "They told me that they mess
up the speed bumps, and mess up the pavement. I asked them what was more
important, the pavement or the children. I was told that it cost a lot
of money to repair the roadways."
Cox pointed out a hole in the argument, noting that garbage trucks,
package delivery trucks and moving company tractor-trailers are common
in the neighborhood.
"They told me that was because the whole community benefits from those
services," Cox said.
At one point, WJC transportation director Randy Pingley tried to intervene.
"I used the same argument, but it didn't work," Pingley said. "I don't
know why they are against school buses but not other, heavier vehicles."
Pingley approached city officials for help, but was told that nothing
could be done since the roads are on private property.
"This is definitely not something that we chose to do," Pingley said,
referring to WJC Schools.
Other neighbors are perplexed by the rule, since they think it's unsafe
for any child to stand out front on the heavily traveled main road.
"Merrimac Trail is a main thoroughfare," noted Nancy Shelton. "It's
dangerous for children to be waiting out there for a bus. It's unfair."
Brenda Wigginton, a former Shellis Square board member whose husband now
serves as the association's president, tells a different story. She said
the association once considered allowing just the handicapped buses in.
She claims school officials "didn't want any buses coming in, because
there was nowhere for the buses to go because the parking lot was too
crowded with cars."
"They made the final decision, not Shellis Square," Wigginton stated.
"That is not true," Pingley shot back when told of Wigginton's claim.
"This is very upsetting to me."
Pingley said he pleaded with Wigginton to at least let the drivers
finish out the school year, but Wigginton refused. Buses ceased entering
the neighborhood in March 2002.
"There is no way that I would not provide a service to a special-needs
child," Pingley insisted. "If I could go door-to-door to pick up the
kids, that's what I would do."
As for the other vehicles, they can enter the complex because "we have
to let people move in and out, and we have to let the UPS trucks in
because it's the mail," Wigginton said. "We let the recycling truck come
in, but that is just once a week."
She said school buses used to "come in and out of here all day long.
They would come in here at least six times a day. You could tell they
were destroying the pavement. It was definitely deteriorating."
Contradicting her earlier statement, Wigginton then said the decision
was made not to let the buses in because the association didn't want to
increase annual dues to cover the cost of repairing the roads.
"This is purely financial," Wigginton said. "We are looking out for the
homeowner. Everything in here is maintained by the residents. We don't
have the city or VDOT coming in and helping us. This is private
property. We don't have to allow the school buses in."
Campbell is not giving up.
"I have been fighting this for two years, and I will continue to fight
this," she said.
"When you have a handicapped child, usually people are willing to go out
of their way to help you the best way they can," Cox added. "It's
heartbreaking and disappointing for our children to have to suffer
because of the homeowners association's unwillingness to compromise."
Copyright © 2004, Virginia Gazette
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