CRESTVIEW — A Crestview mother is concerned about kids’ safety as they walk along a busy north Crestview street to school.
Florida law states school districts do not have to provide bus transportation for students who live within 2 miles of their schools, so Denise Darlington Ford’s sixth-grade daughter has to walk to Davidson Middle School with other children from their neighborhood along Old Bethel Road.
“They have to walk along Roberts Road, which is a 35 mile-an-hour zone with no (sidewalk) to keep the children off the road,” Ford stated in a Facebook post.
“Then they have to walk along Old Bethel with traffic of at least 800 cars going 30 miles-per-hour and cross Old Bethel,” she stated.
However, one of Ford’s biggest concerns is the lack of a crossing guard across Old Bethel Road to Davidson.
“The traffic is horrendous,” Ford stated. “I have been granted a ‘pass’ to allow for my daughter a bus ride home. But no allowance was given to pick her up for school.”
However, if the bus driver determines the bus is too full, Ford’s daughter must then walk home, carrying school books and her band instrument with her, Ford said.
Because Ford, a single mother, must leave home at 6 a.m. to be at her job at Eglin Air Force Base by 7, it is too early for her to drop her daughter off at Davidson on the way to work.
Ford believes because there are no sidewalks in her neighborhood nor along Old Bethel, children in the area fall under an exemption for “Hazardous Walking Conditions” in the state statute.
Okaloosa School District Office of Community Affairs Program Director Henry Kelley said the district is reviewing new traffic patterns that emerge with each new school year.
“District staff will go review this intersection and immediately review the need for a crossing guard,” Kelley said.
However, he said, state law is clear on the 2-mile radius rule, although individual school districts and their respective schools may at times grant waivers.
“This ‘within 2-mile’ transportation is not paid for by state funds,” Kelley said. “We encourage parents to meet with their school staff first to help find a solution, and we will review this parent’s concerns as well.”
Ford stated she hopes her complaint will benefit all children in her neighborhood.
“I hope it's not going to take one of the kids in this area getting hit by a vehicle to straighten matters,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Parent raises Davidson Middle School crossing concerns