OXON HILL, Md. — Parents are sounding the alarm on some of their concerns ahead of the 2024-2025 Prince George's County School year. One of the main topics of discussion is transportation for students.
WUSA9 has been two of three information sessions and despite having these in-person question-and-answer portions parents said they are left feeling concerned about safety when it comes to kids walking to some of these bus stop locations.
“A quarter of a mile, it’s not super far but where they’re walking it’s kind of uphill, so if cars come down you probably won’t see them until they get to that part,” PGCPS parent Tiffany McLean said.
McLean attended Prince George’s County Public Schools’ information session to address her concern.
“Where we live, we’re in a rural area and there’s no sidewalks on the way to the bus stop and we’re still building so it’s a lot of construction vehicles,” McLean said.
She says she’s brought this up several times when it comes to her kid’s bus stop in Brandywine. All three of her kids have to make the walk. She says she wants to know why the bus can’t come a little closer to their home.
“I personally don’t think it’s safe, especially with my 4-year-old starting,” McLean said. “He doesn’t… you know they want to play. I find it a safety concern.”
Lydia Sermons also attended a meeting this week to voice similar concerns.
“I live in a neighborhood where there are very few sidewalks,” Sermons said. “So the children are forced to walk along the side of the street at least up to three blocks.”
She says she submitted a request for an additional bus stop in Largo along her children’s route in hopes of keeping them safe.
“It’s not the fault of the school system that there are no sidewalks,” Sermons said. “I’m looking at other measures that can be taken to reduce the amount of time they have to walk in the street to get to the bus stop.”
The district tells WUSA9 that there is a way for parents to put in a request for their kids’ route to the school bus stop to be reviewed — the website also states it will conduct annual safety audits of all assigned stops. Click here to read more on how to make a request. If a route is permitted to be safe and a parent disagrees, they can appeal that decision.
“For me, actions speak louder than words, so you can say that all day but what are you actually doing about safety,” McLean said.
The parents we spoke with say they are hopeful when it comes to changes being made for these bus routes and stops.
“Every child’s life counts, my two and everyone else’s who has to walk in the street to get to the bus stop,” Sermons said.