Should More Students Take the Bus To School?

There's often traffic backups around the schools - and especially along Route 1A near Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School and Miles River Middle School - at opening and closing times.

Some of the traffic is from students. All 136 students spaces at the high school have been sold, according to Donna Bunk, administrative assistant to Superintendent Michael Harvey. And about 650 students ride the bus each day, according to Bunk, based on data provided by Salter Transportation, which operates the school district's buses.

That is about 57 percent of the 1,135 students that go to school on the combined campus - 430 at the middle school and 705 at the high school.

The traffic backups prompted one school neighbor to put up signs this fall that have stirred discussion. The signs read: "Tired of Sitting in Traffic? Put Your Kids on the Bus."

What do you think? Should more students take the bus to school? Are there other ways to eliminate traffic congestion near the schools? Tell us below in the comments section.