PITTSBURGH — Parents in Homewood told Channel 11 News they didn’t know that a school bus wasn’t being offered this year, forcing their students to walk more than a mile to get to class. The route has no crossing guards and several busy intersections, causing concern among parents.
“They usually notify us, but we did not get a notification, no e-mails, no phone calls, nothing,” parent Shaquala Reynolds said.
Reynolds’ son goes to Pittsburgh Faison K-5. He is 9 years old. In the past, his mother says he’s caught a yellow school bus or van to class. But on the first day of school Monday, a bus never arrived.
“Monday when we woke up it was a whole bunch of kids at the bus stop, so we are standing there like, ‘Where is the bus?’” Reynolds said.
When Reynolds called Pittsburgh Public Schools, the district informed her that they were no longer providing a bus and her son was now considered a walker. This is a concern for parents who worry their students will be late, get lost, or worse.
“There are two main routes, they are severely dangerous. You got drug addicts, you got drug dealers, you got no crossing guards you got busy intersections,” she said.
The route that her son and other elementary-age students would take to school: a more than 20-minute walk. We drove the route to see if we encountered hazards, we did, from busy intersections, and broken glass to blind curves and steep hills.
“Now we have to suffer because we don’t know who hit our child, or our child ends up missing, or our children end up missing school,” Reynolds said.
The school district told us if a route is less than 1.5 miles the student is considered a walker unless the child has a learning or health excuse or if the route is hazardous, which Reynolds argues it is.
“I’m seriously thinking about home-schooling,” she said.
We asked the district why a van was provided last year, and not this year. The district provided the following response:
“Their transportation was not provided by the District. It was provided by a partner with the school (Homewood Children’s Village). Families who want transportation must register with the school. It is not guaranteed and there is a wait list. The transportation also does not begin with the start of the school year. It typically begins in October.”
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