HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County School leaders are making some changes to a Hillsborough County bus route after parents raised concerns.
- Second bus stop added to Waterleaf Subdivision in Riverview
- Parents raised concerns over previous bus stop
- Kids had to walk through muddy ditch to get to stop
- Drivers to begin making 2nd stop by end of week
Neighbors have been concerned over a recent change in the school bus stop on Big Bend Road in Riverview.
In the past, bus drivers would pick up and drop-off children close to the entrance of the Waterleaf Subdivision. However, school leaders say the bus drivers were breaking the rules.
"It's illegal for our bus drivers to stop in the middle of an intersection because our drivers only have control of the traffic that's in front of them or behind them," Tanya Arja, the Hillsborough County Public School PIO, said.
According to the Florida Department of Education, a bus driver must stop either 50 feet before or 200 feet after an intersection, or before a right turn lane. But at the Waterleaf subdivision, the change meant middle and high schoolers must walk through a sometimes muddy ditch. And parents say elementary students have been seen dodging traffic to get to the front entrance.
Hillsborough County Schools have dediced to add a second bus stop in the back of the subdivision at Balm River Road and Cardinal Flower.
"Because of the grassy area, the driver would stop, the arm would go out, and then the kids can walk to the grass and go to the bus," Arja explained.
The school district said parents will be notified in the next few days about the second bus stop. Then families can make their own decision as to where the child gets on and off the bus.
The bus driver will begin making that stop in the back of the Waterleaf Subdivision by the end of the week.