Hundreds of families have found relief after Alexandria City Public Schools reinstated school bus routes to neighborhoods across the city.
The new routes went into effect today (Oct. 5). ACPS approved 183 appeals and denied 138 appeals. In all, the school system found that 456 students are newly eligible for bus service, with routes returned in Arlandria, the West End and Old Town.
ACPS individually notified 395 parents via ParentSquare on Sept. 23 and 25 on whether their requests to reinstate bus service to their neighborhoods were approved. Letters were then sent to parents on Oct. 2 informing them of bus stop locations and pickup times, according to ACPS.
Caitlin Ryan’s daughter is in the fourth grade and has taken the school bus to Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy since kindergarten. Until this year, that is.
Ryan said that her appeal to bring bus service was approved — only because the route was deemed hazardous due to nearby roadway construction. Still, Ryan wonders whether she’ll be at square one next school year when that road work is complete.
“We did get it at least rectified, and they said for this year,” Ryan told ALXnow. “But now, whether if the construction is done next year, I don’t know if we’ll have to go through it all again.”
Four schools accounted for 181 of 183 approvals, and the school system said that “safety concerns drove approvals.”
- Douglas MacArthur Elementary School (Duke Street, Seay Street, Roberts Lane)
- Mount Vernon Community School (Executive Avenue, Russell Road)
- William Ramsay Elementary School (Quantrell Avenue)
- Charles Barrett Elementary School (Crestwood, Chalfonte, Oakcrest, and Cameron Mills area)
“Appeals citing hazardous crossings, missing sidewalks, or traffic were approved 74% of the time, compared with 44% for appeals that disagreed with the boundary,” ACPS said. The school system said that safety requests from parents were evaluated on:
- Safety and hazards along the route
- Route environment, meaning residential or commercial frontage with visibility
- Total walking distance
- The share of K–2 students affected
- Crash history from City of Alexandria data
What happened with school buses
When school started on Aug. 24, ACPS was heavily criticized for implementing walk zones that aligned with new school boundaries. Walk zones are areas around schools where ACPS does not provide school bus transportation.
Some parents complained that many of the safe routes outlined by ACPS are unsafe.
Adriana Schellhaas, the former executive director at Casa Chirilagua in Arlandria, spoke before the Alexandria City School Board asking for school buses to be brought back.
“A lot of parents have to work two, three jobs, and so they need that reliable transportation for school for their kids,” Schellhaas told ALXnow. “I hope this is not a temporary fix, but rather more of a permanent one, because I don’t want them to be in the same boat again next year.”
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 can 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.
Last month, School Board Member Kelly Carmichael Booz said that the school system botched the walk zone and bus route 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.”
The School Board will be briefed on the changes at its meeting on Thursday night (Oct. 8).
