CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) -- Some upset parents in Chesterfield's Deer Run neighborhood contacted CBS 6 News because their children have to walk to a bus stop near a registered sex offender's home.
After school leaders received complaints, they relocated the stop. But parents said that move was not well thought out.
In fact, some parents told CBS 6 News' Shelby Brown that kids now have to leave a few minutes earlier to get to the newly assigned stop.
Adam Glass, who said he won't let his sons walk to the bus alone, is upset his children's bus stop on Buck Rub Place was switched to one on Affirmed Drive.
CBS 6 News checked Virginia's sex offender registry and discovered eight other registered sex offenders work or live within a one-mile radius of the area where the students catch the bus.
Glass and some other parents are also upset they were not consulted about the switch.
"Did anybody think this through, or did we make a snap decision," Glass asked.
That bus stop switch now means some of the kids have to walk a quarter of a mile to the new stop, forcing them to walk past the home to the intersection of Buck Rub Drive and Affirmed Drive. Some parents said that is bringing a whole new set of problems.
“This is really unsafe," Henry Billings said. "You have rush hour traffic coming from this direction in the morning and then traffic turning here at the end of the day. It’s a busy intersection all day, that’s my concern.”
Chesterfield school leaders said the stop on Affirmed Drive has been a school bus stop for years, used by high school students.
Shawn Smith, a Chesterfield County Public Schools spokesperson, said that when the county reviewed this situation, a transportation team scoped out the area and considered all safety factors before making a decision. And Smith said the change was also made to avoid having students congregate too close to the registered sex offender's home.
“We did hear back from parents after we made the change who say they didn't have concerns about kids standing in from of the sex offender's home," said Smith. "We felt like it wasn't a chance we wanted to take."
Additionally, Smith told CBS 6 News that parents whose kids used to catch the bus at Buck Rub Place do have another option. That is to allow their kids to catch another bus in the opposite direction of the sex offender’s home. It’s a longer walk for students, but Smith said is another option for parents.
Stay with WTVR.com and CBS 6 News for updates on this story.
