Families bike students to school in response to Lakota bus strike

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - Community members of the Lakota Local School District are scrambling to find ways to get students to school as Petermann Transportation bus drivers continue to strike.

The now six-day-long strike has parents, grandparents, babysitters and others trying to find different ways to drop off and pick up students in the district.

While many Lakota families may be coordinating carpool schedules, a few families in the district are taking their kids to school in a unique way.

Rick Holt, of Liberty Township, takes his granddaughter to school on his cargo bike and says they both love it.

“This would be a great time to promote walking and biking to school,” he tells FOX19 NOW. “I enjoy biking with my granddaughter to school. It is about a 3.5-mile bike ride and I get to drop her off right at the front door of the school.”

Holt is the co-founder of a national group called Early Childhood Mobility Coalition, an organization that focuses on kids walking and bike riding.

Other families are beginning to do the same as well.

“Fun, healthy, and one less car on the road. Would like to see more schools promote walking school bus and bike bus efforts as well,” he said.

A mediator is expected to appear Wednesday with drivers and Petermann Transportation to find some sort of agreement.

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