Changes to bus routes are leaving some Middle Tennessee parents worried about how their children will get to school safely. It comes amidst a nationwide school bus driver shortage.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System recently alerted parents of a bus route change for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.
Come fall, kids who live within a mile of their elementary school and a mile and a half from their middle or high school will have to walk or get a ride.
This is an increase of a half mile and has parents like Suzi Andino worried. She has two kids, one with special needs.
“I’m just worried about it. I’m worried about my son standing out there waiting on his mom who's supposed to come and pick him up because she got called to another school,” Andino said.
School leaders say it’s because of the bus driver shortage.
For Andino, her concerns come down to safety for her boys walking on the road.
“My middle schooler would either have to walk now or I would have to drive him. If he’d be walking, he’d have to walk the entire length of Cunningham Lane,” Andino said.
Fellow Clarksville parent Ari Sommers says she feels for families impacted by the change.
“I can’t imagine being in the position where I had to go to work or you know I got kids going to daycare or a babysitter or something,” Sommers said.
FOX 17 News reached out to the school system to learn more. They declined an interview but did tell us there are exceptions to the changes.
According to the school system transportation will be offered for students in these types of areas:
- Four or more lanes without a crossing guard present
- Roads with less than 24 feet in width and speeds more than 35 mph
- Roads without sidewalks and speeds more than 35 mph
But for Andino, who is in the half mile expansion zone it is just too much to ask for parents, families, and students.
“I still feel like it's a lot to ask of a 12-year-old to walk that,” Andino said.
According to the school leaders, state law only requires school transportation to be offered for kids more than a mile and a half from their school.
Even with the changes, they are still offering more busing for elementary students than state law requires.
For full details on the changes, click here.
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