It took longer than normal to get to work one day last week.

About halfway there, I was stuck behind a school bus on New Carlisle Pike, a well-traveled road that connects the western part of Clark County with Springfield.

I understand and acknowledge the need for buses to pick up and drop off students and to do it safely.

But what I witnessed as I continued to follow this bus was less easy to comprehend.

In seven-tenths of a mile, this bus stopped no less than seven times, to let what appeared to be high school students get off at their respective driveways. On two occasions, it stopped at driveways that are separated by just a small amount of grass.

Some students got out at a church along that road, and made their way to waiting automobiles. In one instance, a girl got off the bus and began walking a long driveway that is located within a short distance from that church parking lot. By the way, that driveway leading to the house is considerably longer than her walk from the church lot would be.

I have to ask: Why can’t there be some centralized stops where students can disembark, then walk a short distance to their homes?

I posed that question to the transportation supervisor of the Tecumseh Local Schools, because it was a bus from that district I followed that morning.

Sherri Oxner told me that in rural areas, the buses stop at driveways because it is dark in the mornings, there are no sidewalks and students often run late.

Tecumseh officials have also implemented a system of grade-level schools, so each of the three elementaries schools only house two grades each.

The little girl who lives across the street from me is a first grader, and she rides one bus to the school in New Carlisle, then is transported by another bus to Donnelsville Elementary.

District officials said such a system would better utilize staff and save money. Oxner indicated they “haven’t heard much opposition to the grade-level schools,” although it has added a little more cost to transportation.

About 65 percent of Tecumseh students ride buses to and from school. Like many districts, there are fewer neighborhood schools now, and Oxner says they try to avoid having students walking and crossing major roads.

There also seemed to be a lack of discipline on the bus I followed. Students not getting off would frequently change seats, delaying the bus moving again. Oxner explained they load the buses as much as possible to be cost-efficient. And she added most students like to sit in the back, and will move to empty seats as more people get off the bus.

During the days when I rode the bus, we walked to and from a bus stop, sometimes several blocks. Yes, that was in town. But I would think older students could safely walk a short distance from the bus to their homes, even out in the country.

Who knows, it might even help solve the problem of childhood obesity.