PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — School is back in session, but for a Pasco County parent — concerns about a dangerous route to school persist.
"It’s a danger to a life, a student’s life," Cathy Dawson told the ABC Action News I-Team. "You’re not providing a safe walking path, and for me, I’m not okay with that for anybody’s child.”
Dawson wants to be a voice not only for her daughter, but for other students who face a dangerous walk to school and, under state law, live too close to a middle or high school to qualify for busing.
Over summer break, the I-Team met Dawson on a quiet morning before the chaos of heading back to school.
“On Vandine Road is where my concerns come in. There are multiple areas within Vandine Road where there is zero room for error, if there is a car misjudgment or something. Putting not just my daughter, but any other child who must walk that route to school — life in jeopardy," Dawson said. "I have a lot of sleepless nights."
Dawson, a working single mom, showed the I-Team the areas she shudders at the thought of her daughter walking as she enters high school
“The stuff that I see on that road scares me," Dawson said.
Dawson's daughter took the bus last year, to the middle school neighboring Wesley Chapel High School. The difference — she is now a less than 2-mile walk away, meaning she no longer qualifies for busing, under state statute. That distance is considered a reasonable distance to find other transportation.
“The road goes right up to the grass line. And you have drop-offs, there’s ditches, these are your worst areas right here, there’s zero room for error. There’s zero room for a car to even pull off. Without going into a ditch. And there’s areas up here that get even more narrow," Dawson said, after crossing State Road 54 to Vandine, which turns into Boyette Rd.
Dawson said she invites anyone to come out and take a look at what she sees.
"Take an hour out of your day, just come walk that with me and tell me you would put your child on that road and allow them to walk that path to school. I want you to tell me you’re okay with that," Dawson said.
Betsy Kuhn, an assistant superintendent for Pasco County Schools, told the I-Team she did go out and look at the road.
“I understand her concerns with walking there. I 100 percent do understand those concerns. It’s just that she does not qualify for transportation," Kuhn said, adding that their transportation department has been in communication with Dawson.
Emails Dawson shared with the I-Team revealed back and forth communication for months about her home's distance from the high school.
The I-Team asked how the school distance calculates the distance since it is a 2-mile drive — enough to seemingly qualify for busing.
"We follow what the State Board of Education rule is, and that calculates it differently than what, for example, a Google map would. They round up, for example. Also, Google Maps may be driving, rather than walking. And it’s measured by the walk path of the closest pedestrian point of the residence to the closest pedestrian entrance point of the school," Kuhn said, explaining that the district went out and did a physical measurement at the request of the state. "That was very, very close, 1.83 and 1.84."
Kuhn said that because of Dawson's concerns, the district looked at how many students live 1.8 to 2 miles from the school, just under the state threshold to qualify for busing.
"It's almost 3,000 students. That’s upwards of 20 additional buses. We’re down 26 drivers in this district right now. Getting ready to start school. That’s out of 291 routes. It’s a lot better than past years, but we’re still going to have buses that are late because that’s a significant shortage. And so that’s the situation we’re in. It’s very difficult to be able to add kids in when you’re so short already and can’t transport the people who you’re obligated to transport," Kuhn said.
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Kuhn explained the difficult of adding kids to buses when you're already short drivers and struggle to transport students the district is obligated to transport.
“I personally have been told by a parent, if my child gets hits on the way to school, it’s your fault," Kuhn said. “It's not because we don’t care, it’s that we have to do the best we can with the resources we have.”
“I’ll keep going up to the Florida Department Board of Education, I will reach out to Mr. DeSantis, I’ll keep fighting, I’ll never stop, not necessarily fighting, but standing up for my daughter’s right and these students’ rights," Dawson said.
Families are encouraged to carpool. There is no appeal process if a parent objects to their child's route to school. But in Pasco County, parents like Dawson are encouraged to fill out a "Transportation Request Form" so the county can consider changes to improve safety for all pedestrians.
This story came to us through a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, contact us.
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