ALEXANDRIA, VA – Alexandria City Public Schools has revealed some of the neighborhoods where it is considering reinstating bus service and has published a schedule for its final decision-making, according to a new report.
The Alexandria Brief reports that ACPS shared the information at a meeting with the Alexandria City Council and a school board subcommittee on Monday. According to ACPS, among the areas where buses could be reinstated are Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road for the Mount Vernon Community School; Duke Street, Quaker Lane and Seminary Road for Douglas MacArthur Elementary; Alabama and Kentucky avenues for Charles Barrett Elementary; and Sanger Avenue and Beauregard Street for Ramsay Elementary. ACPS revealed that about 7 percent of students remain in walk zone request areas, where walking was initially deemed feasible but where families say it's unsafe and want buses.
ACPS said it will be assessing hazards in zones where bussing has been requested throughout this week, receive feedback from the city on Sept. 23 and issue final decisions on Sept. 30.
According to the Alexandria Brief, ACPS reported that all students who were eligible and requested transportation by Sept. 10 now have bus service.
If bus service is restored, the school system cautions that buses won't be immediately available, but will likely resume in October.
ACPS updated its walk zones for this school year, resulting in bus service being removed in some communities. However, ACPS staff say walk routes were determined without input from educators who can judge what young children can handle. The result, they say, is walk routes that meet distance requirements – being under a mile – but might lack sidewalks, cross busy roads or involve other safety hazards a child of five or seven can't handle.
Read more from the Alexandria Brief here.
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