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ACPS to restore bus service for eligible students by Oct. 5 after walk zone pushback

By James Cullum
Front view of a yellow school bus with a 'SCHOOL BUS' sign, stop arm extended on the right, driver visible through the windshield.
School bus at Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools started responding to families wanting school buses to return to their neighborhoods last week, and any eligible students will be able to ride on a bus starting by Monday, Oct. 5.

That was the message relayed to the Alexandria City School Board last Thursday night (Sept. 24) by Clinton Page, the school system’s chief accountability and research officer. Page said that ACPS started sending out their decisions on walk zone requests on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and will respond to all families by Wednesday, Sept. 30.

“ACPS is projecting that any new students determined to be eligible for transportation through this request process will be able to begin to ride a bus on Oct. 5, 2026,” Page said.

When school started on Aug. 24, ACPS was heavily criticized for implementing safe walk zones aligned with new school boundaries. Many parents have complained that many of the safe routes outlined by ACPS are, in fact, unsafe.

ACPS provides bus transportation for students living more than one mile from their elementary schools and more than a mile and a half from Alexandria City High School. The school system may also grant exceptions in areas near hazardous intersections, particularly in Arlandria near Mount Vernon Community School and in the West End near Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.

At another School Board meeting on Sept. 10, School Board Member Kelly Carmichael Booz said that the school system botched the rollout.

“We’ve got a number of intersections that were clearly indicated as safe walks, but are not,” Booz said. “We did not get it right, but this team is working really hard to get things right and to address it.”

Earlier this month, ACPS said staff were evaluating potentially hazardous intersections identified by parents, including:

Parents will get updates on their transportation requests through a ParentSquare notification.

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.