BALDWIN, Fla. – With the first day of school for Duval County on Monday, a new rule is now in effect.
Middle and high school students who live within two miles of their school will no longer have a bus to pick them up. The change means hundreds of kids will now have to either walk or find their own ride.
And for some areas like Baldwin on Duval County’s west side, that means crossing a U.S. Highway.
“It’s just been a really unsafe and unnerving situation,” Miranda Carr said.
That’s because US 301 sits in the middle of the route her adopted son Aden is supposed to take to Baldwin Middle/High School.
Due to Duval County’s new bus rule, which states middle and high school students that live within two miles don’t get a bus, Aden would have to walk across it.
“If you’re not local to the area, maybe you don’t know but from our house we can hear the wrecks,” Carr said. “There’s no sidewalk. There’s no crossing signal. There’s no crossing guard. How are you supposed to see turn arrows every which way to know when it’s even safe to go? What happens if somebody doesn’t see him because they aren’t expecting a child to cross the highway.”
Carr said she called DCPS multiple times but had no luck getting a response that she felt would make the walk safe.
″That bypass is known for fatal vehicle accidents,” she said. “There is a high possibility and a good chance that bypass will soon be known for fatal accidents involving innocent children. And while I understand that your budget is important, what percentage of that budget is worth one child’s life?”
As a result, she put Aden into a private school. She said they offered an extended day program that would allow him to stay until she could pick him up.
But it means leaving many of his Baldwin friends behind.
“A little nervous,” Aden said. “I don’t have my friends. I’m gonna have to make a lot of new ones.”
News4JAX reached out to DCPS and JSO about the situation in Baldwin.
JSO said they only provide elementary school crossing guards, and DCPS said they will look into the situation.