About 40 of the 120 schools in the Northside Independent School District will be affected by changing bus routes in the coming school year, according to school district officials.
Every summer the district reassesses its bus routes by adding and eliminating some.
This year's decision is making some parents angry.
The walk to the school bus stop is only about two blocks for Meghan Frindley and her 7-year-old daughter, Ambrosia.
"But if she's walking to school, it's a lot farther, I think. It's like 1.8 miles," Frindley said.
That's a walk Frindley would have never let Ambrosia take, but now she's having to consider it.
Northside ISD just alerted Frindley and other parents in the area near Raba Elementary school that the neighborhood bus stop is being eliminated.
"If it was older kids, middle school, high school, I wouldn't be as concerned, but she's elementary. She would have to go up Westover Hills and then cross at Raba Drive," Frindley said.
Westover Hills does have a clear cross walk, but Frindley's concern is that the speed limit is 45 mph and there are no signs or speed limit reductions showing there's a school next door.
An NISD spokesperson said as new schools are opened or expanded, new routes have to be added. A committee assesses routes within 2 miles of a campus. The committee is allowed to eliminate shorter routes as long as there are safe walkways to the school.
The committee is comprised of:
- Parents
- Principals
- Police officers
- Human resources specialists
- Transportation staff
"I understand there's adequate sidewalks to walk on, but just because they're walking on a sidewalk doesn't mean they're going to be OK when they cross that street, because I've seen people run red lights," Frindley said.
Frindley has started a petition.
"It's at 84 signatures, so far. My goal is 1,000 signatures," she said. "Not just for my child (but) for all the children in this neighborhood."
NISD said it's keeping about 80 bus routes that are within 2 miles of schools where the committee determined adequate walkways don't exist.
The district said, "The number of routes being eliminated for next year is consistent with previous years, although it can fluctuate from year to year."
KSAT 12 News asked which campuses would be impacted. The district didn't give a list, only saying the changes affect approximately one-third of the total campuses.
However, district officials said they have alerted parents at each school about the upcoming changes to give them plenty of time to plan accordingly.
Concerned parents can reach out to the NISD Transportation Department online at nisd.net/transportation.
