A mother from Hewitt, Texas, located southwest of Waco, started a petition after the Midway Independent School District said that her daughter isn’t allowed to ride the bus to school because of where she lives in relation to her elementary school, reports KWTX.com.
Taylor Hoosier, mother of eight-year-old Aliza Ferrell, lives two miles from Spring Valley Elementary. The Midway ISD policy states that any student who lives within a two-mile radius from school will not be allowed to ride the school bus, unless they live in a designated hazardous area.
Hoosier reportedly said that her daughter’s walk to school should be considered hazardous, since there are no sidewalks and the presence of active construction sites.
“That’s a long way to walk. I can’t take her to school because I work,” Hoosier told KWTX.com. “Within five miles of a home is where a child can get kidnapped. That’s my main concern, just anything could happen to her on her way home.”
Hoosier reportedly filed a complaint with the district. But she said that after she experienced difficulty with getting a response from district officials, she started a petition that now has over 100 signatures.
Hoosier told KWTX.com that she isn’t looking for a confrontation. Instead, she simply needs a solution.
Midway ISD Public Information Officer Traci Marlin said that the district is working with Hoosier to address the situation.
“While the two-mile radius for bussing is a state standard, Midway ISD’s transportation staff has been working to come up with creative solutions for the safety of individual families in need of assistance,” Marlin told KWTX.com. “Unfortunately, adding more bus routes isn’t always a feasible solution, but we are able to discuss possibilities of enrolling in after school care, help searching for carpools, problem-solving parent transportation limitations, and discussing processes already in place for pursuing policy or law changes. Certainly, student safety should always be the priority.”
