By CASSANDRA MICKENS / Associate Editor

HOOVER – An online petition is making the rounds urging the Hoover Board of Education to reconsider its decision to cut school bus service next fall.

As of the afternoon of Nov. 8, the MoveOn.org petition had 270 signatures from residents who not only reside in Hoover, but also Calera, Helena and Pelham. Other signatures were listed as being from as far away as California, Wyoming and even Canada. The petition was posted Nov. 7.

“The Hoover Alabama School Board of Education approved a ‘Transportation Change’ on July 15, 2013. What this ‘Transportation Change’ did was take away school buses for almost 7,000 students in a city that is 50 square miles, leaving those children with no way or unsafe ways to get school,” the petition statement reads.

Kaye Smith, who identified herself as a Birmingham resident, wrote in a comment on the petition that her children and neighborhood will be “greatly affected if Hoover stops buses.”

“That means the [Caldwell Mill Road/Valleydale Road] intersection will have exponentially more traffic from all four directions going to [Berry Middle School] and [Spain Park High School],” Smith wrote.

The petition will be delivered to Superintendent Andy Craig and every member of board of education except Derrick Murphy, who voted against the bus cuts. Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey and the Hoover City Council, State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice and State Board of Education Member Stephanie Bell also are listed as pending recipients.

Craig and the board of education maintain the bus cuts are necessary to prevent further financial strain. The board of education’s next scheduled meeting is Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Farr Administration Building, 2810 Metropolitan Way.