In an announcement to the community on Monday, April 22nd, the Lower Merion School District announced that it was retracting its proposed expanded walk zone, which would have included many parts of the Shortridge neighborhood. The announcement noted that “many families impacted expressed concerns about and opposition to the change” and that as a result, the district has “decided to retain a one-mile walk zone for our high school students for next year.”
The expanded walk zone came to the attention of many members of the school community in a January 22nd announcement titled “Jan. 2024 Update On Start Times And Full-Day Kindergarten.” In that message, the district revealed a map of the expanded walk zone.
In the months since, many school district parents in the Shortridge neighborhood spoke at Board meetings to protest this decision. The Shortridge Civic Association, reflecting these concerns, requested information on the safety of proposed walking routes and advocated for the community to retain its current busing levels. The Philadelphia Inquirer covered the issue in an article titled “To manage later start times, Lower Merion has proposed stopping busing for 500 kids. Parents are angry.” LMHS students also advocated for change in the school newspaper, The Merionite, in the article “Students’ lose transport due to expanded walk zone” and the op-ed “New walk zones, new dangers.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted the retraction in an article titled “Lower Merion drops plan to expand high-school walk zone to 1.5 miles next year“