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Coco Warner reportingSome parents in the Jordan School District are upset about a cancelled bus route. They say their children's safety is now at risk.
Warren Jolley helps take his grandson to and from school. "And I won't have my grandkids walking over a mile and a half to this school when they have to cross so many streets," he says.
Jolley, like several people in this West Jordan neighborhood, is upset the kids have literally missed the bus. The stop at 2700 West and 7800 South served 15 to 20 students last year.
Sabrina Litser/Parent: "The office staff didn't even know the bus had been stopped. And the bus driver, if I hadn't talked to him my kindergartener would've been sent on a bus. It's just frustrating."
The parents' biggest concern is the idea of their children walking along 7800 South, where there is a lot of traffic.
Dawn Larsen/Parent: "There's the canal. There're businesses along there. There are lots of different things that are dangerous to children."
But the state only requires bussing for elementary school students who live one and a half miles away, with exceptions being made for hazardous routes. That's a label this route lost.
Jim Hinckle/Dir. of Transportation, Jordan School District: "At that particular situation along 7800 South there are some crossing guards I believe at 3200 West and at old Bangerter Highway as well, that lead right to the school. It's a full sidewalk."
Hinckle also says the district gave Columbia school administrators a year's notice about the cancelled stop.
Jim Hinckle/Dir. of Transportation, Jordan School District: "It basically goes back to the Board of Education because they pay for those hazardous routes. There's only so much money they can put into those."
These parents understand the situation but wish it didn't come at the expense of their children.
The Jordan School District's Board of Education reviews its decisions on hazardous bus routes every three years.
