With the first day of school just one week away, the Clinton Community School District is making some last minute changes to it's busing schedule.
Any student within a two mile radius of Eagle Heights Elementary School is supposed to walk. But because there are no sidewalks around the elementary school, the district provided busing for the kids over the last few years. That changed this year because of a new bike path constructed by the city.
The path goes from Lyons Middle School to Eagle Heights Elementary. But it borders a notoriously dangerous part of town -- the Miller Ridge Apartments. Several shootings have taken place there.
This caused concern among Eagle Heights parents like Anna Mangelsen --
"They've had some issues at that complex and I just didn't feel my child was safe walking around there."
Roughly 150 kids were being asked to walk past the Miller Ridge Apartments, but since parents became aware of the change, the district has been flooded with phone calls.
"There have been concerns raised about that particular drop off point," said Clinton Schools Superintendent Deb Olson. Parents weren't complaining because their kids were being asked to walk, they were concerned over where their kids were being asked to walk.
"We went down there and looked at the area, and to be honest, the area is unsafe for students," said Olson. "It borders a not very safe area of town."
The district was trying to eliminate a few bus routes as a cost-saving measure. It looked like a "win-win" situation until Olson and the Eagle Heights Elementary principal took a walk along the path Monday morning.
"We will not be having students taking that route. We will be providing bus transportation for students," said Olson.
So, it's back to the drawing board for school officials spending their last week of summer vacation adding more than 100 kids to the bus schedule.
"The number one thing we have to guarantee all of our parents is safety," Olson said. "You're children are safe when leaving home and we will safely deliver them back to you."
School officials will have to make some changes, but parents will find out what bus route their children are on before the first day of school.
