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WOODS CROSS – Dozens of students in Woods Cross have to cross multiple train tracks and interstate ramps on their walk to junior high school, because they’re not eligible to ride the bus.
Parents told KSL they’ve dealt with the problem for years and want a permanent solution.
One-third of the students who live in the neighborhood north of 2600 South at 1400 West are eligible to be bused to South Davis Junior High, more than a mile away to the east.
The other two-thirds are not, because according to the Davis County School District they live within 2 miles of the school.
Parents have argued that 2600 South is too dangerous for kids to walk across, and they want a bus ride for every child.
“It’s just not safe in any way,” said Shanna Keith.
Her son rode the bus last year and the first few weeks this year, until bus passes for the year were given out and he did not get one. The district told him he lived inside the 2-mile eligibility range for busing.
“So now, we’ve got to try to carpool,” said Keith.
KSL spoke with several mothers who said it’s time for a third school bus in their neighborhood.
“We need to get these kids to be able to ride the bus,” said Kelli Tandy. “We have a lot of working moms. The carpool thing, we’ve tried and it’s really hard. These kids need to be able to get to school safely.”
We need to get these kids to be able to ride the bus. We have a lot of working moms. The carpool thing, we’ve tried and it’s really hard. These kids need to be able to get to school safely.
–Kelli Tandy, parent
Tandy has been dealing with this issue for five years. She’s on her second child at the school, and has two more children who will attend in the years ahead. The district told her they live less than 2 miles from school and are not eligible for busing. She said her child and many others need a safe ride to school every day.
“There’s a lot of homes that are affected by this,” she said, showing a map that places the majority of the neighborhood out of eligibility for busing.
Ironically, eligible students are picked up and dropped off in front of Tandy’s house, so her children see the bus stop at their house but cannot ride. A quick mapping check shows Tandy’s house is 2.2 miles from the school and should be eligible.
“It’s over 2 miles from my home,” she said. “The bus stop happens to be at my house. But, unfortunately, we are not eligible. They say that we live too close to the school and there’s not enough room on the buses.”
It’s the roadway hazards that worry the parents. The parents told KSL none of them would let their children make the walk to school.
“I walked the route myself, and it was a little scary for me,” said Tandy. “There’s no way I would let him walk it.”
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Students must cross five railroad tracks, six semi entrances, a freeway on and offramp.
“This is all at rush-hour,” added Tandy.
“We wish we had buses for every kid. No question,” said Chris Williams, the school district spokesman.
Williams said he wants to walk the route himself.
“I want to walk it when those kids go to school to see what it’s like,” he said.
Williams said the district was concerned about the kids’ safety and will launch an independent study of the walking route next week.
“This is one area that we want to look at again and study and see: OK, what’s it like? Have things changed? Have things gotten worse?” he said. “We will address what’s going on out there.”
Parents have pushed for a long-term solution.
“Every single kid in this neighborhood should be eligible to ride, because they have all of the same obstacles,” said Tandy.
The district will launch its study next week. Parents planned to raise the issue with city council Tuesday night.
