CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Some Chesapeake parents are raising concerns about a long-standing Chesapeake Public Schools policy that generally prohibits school buses from making stops or turning around in cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets.
Chesapeake Public Schools started back up last week, putting bus routes at the top of many parents' minds. News 3's Chesapeake reporter Erin Holly received an email tip about this policy from a concerned parent. Many parents have also voiced similar concerns on social media.
Valerie Harvey, a mother of 4 and Chesapeake Public Schools parent, said the bus stop location near her Deep Creek home has shifted over the years.
"It's never stopped at our home. It's only been at the end of our street until Covid hit. After Covid hit, then it moved down a little further."
Harvey said she and other parents want the process to be safer for students. Her children, the youngest being 6-years-old, walk about .25 of a mile on a street with no sidewalk to get to the bus stop.
"We just wish it was a lot easier for the kids."
Bus drivers, however, say there is a good reason for the rule. Linda Tindell has been driving for Chesapeake Public Schools for nearly 3 decades.
"The bus is 45-foot long. It's 10-foot wide. It's full of children. You have cars parked, you have them illegally parked. The trash truck, the street sweeper, the moving van, the wrecker. You never know what you're gonna experience. It's safer for us to stop on highly visible corners and have the children come to us," Tindell said.
Tindell said navigating cul-de-sacs creates unpredictable and potentially dangerous conditions.
"We want to get your kids to school safely and quickly, and pulling into an unknown condition, unknown situation, in a cul-de-sac slows us down and it's dangerous."
A Chesapeake Public Schools spokesperson provided a statement explaining the policy in part:
"Bus stops are normally not located in a cul-de-sac unless the cul-de-sac has a diameter greater than 100 feet and parking is prohibited, or the cul-de-sac is necessary as a turnaround point and there are no other stops within the established walking-distance standards."
The policy is outlined under Chesapeake School Board Regulation 4-41. The district said it generally avoids locating bus stops within cul-de-sacs when doing so would require a bus to make a three-point turn, back into a roadway, or make other difficult maneuvers.
There are certain bus stop exceptions for special needs buses. Families can request a bus stop change through the Chesapeake Public Schools website here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
