Parents upset over bus route cuts

LEAGUE CITY, TX The district says students who live close to Ross and Bauerschlag elementary schools should walk to and from school. But parents say it's just not safe because of all the busy roads around them.

State law says school districts don't have to provide bus service for students living within two miles of their school. However, the last several years, Clear Creek ISD has provided that bus service. Now, it's no more.

Amid a $4 million budget deficit next year, they're now saying they're going to replace that bus service with crossing guards. Parents ABC13 spoke with Monday night said they aren't buying it.

The parents of Ross and Bauerschlag elementary are a little irate. They're losing their Clear Creek ISD bus service next year. Though they all live within two miles of the schools, they've documented their concerns and addressed the school board.

Busy intersections, lack of crossing paths and missing sidewalks among other issues, make for a tricky walk to and from school.

"I don't think that they've thought about it," parent Stacy Lampo said. "I don't think they have actually thought about the circumstances they're putting our children in."

But CCISD says it evaluates its bus routes annually. They say hazardous new home construction is now completed in the area, making it safer to walk. The district says it's also adding new crossing guard locations to busy intersections.

"We are not going to allow students to walk along 518. That is not our intent," Clear Creek ISD Spokeswoman Elaina Polsen said. "There is a way for them to walk from their neighborhood into the back of the school with the adult supervision of our crossing guards."

"Yeah, they're gonna put crossing guards at one intersection," Lampo said. "My child has to pass through nine intersections to get to school every day."

Lampo says she's already practiced the 1.6 mile to school with her 40-pound kindergartener.

"It took us 53 minutes and she dropped her backpack once we got down the street and around the corner," Lampo said.

As it stands, CCISD says it's going to drop the bus service for the upcoming 2010-11 school year. Now, parents are trying to find a new way to get their elementary school kids to school.

"We will be driving our kids to school because we will not be allowing them to walk to school," parent Sandra Goza said.

Clear Creek ISD says the crossing guard locations and extra stop signs will all be added before the next school year when that bus service is terminated.