Would you let your child walk to school across a busy 4-lane road where cars zoom by at speeds of 60 miles per hour?
Parents in Lutz are saying “No way!” and Tuesday they will pack a Hillsborough County School Board meeting to protest cuts to the courtesy busing program.
Starting next school year, middle and high school students who live within two miles of school will no longer get bus service. It’s a way for the district to save millions of dollars that they can invest in classrooms instead.
However, Lutz-Lake Fern Road is a big concern for parents who say several of their children have had near misses with speeding cars while walking or biking to class. Parents say the road is downright dangerous during morning rush hour because it connects to Veteran’s Expressway.
Parents say driving their kids to school isn't an option either, since Steinbrenner High School, Martinez Middle School and McKitrick Elementary School all share the same entrance, it gets extremely packed in the morning as parents wait for nearly an hour to drop off their kids.
Parents in Lithia are joining up with parents in FishHawk and several other communities to sign a petition to reverse the school board’s decision.
They’re all getting neighbors together to attend Tuesday’s 3PM school board meeting.
Although the district already made a final decision to cut bus service to kids within two miles, parents are confident making their voices heard could make a difference
Parents are really going to work hard to convince the district today before elementary school busing cuts are added to the table too. That's already being considered for the following school year.
10 News also covered similar walk to school dangers in the FishHawk community where not all kids will have streetlights or sidewalks to get to class.
