WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Even a short trip down Centerville Road to D.J. Montague Elementary School can feel a lot longer if you’re making the trek by foot.
This academic year, parents and students within a half mile of the elementary schools in the Williamsburg-James City County school division must adjust to being now classified within a "Non-Transportation Zone," a radius that also extends for one mile outside of the division's secondary schools.
In the Longhill Grove neighborhood down the road from the school, families must now adjust to the transportation changes, even if they've adjusted to years of bus pickup and who might now be without a definitive transportation plan moving forward.
Parents and guardians who live within several of the NTZs told 13News Now Thursday that they're still unsure about how their kids will get to school come Monday, as many of the affected parents have unreliable transportation or do not have work schedules to accommodate pickup in the afternoon or early morning.
"My kid's safety is first, so how is that a waste of your time and a waste of your gas?" Lyn Stewart asked.
According to a spokesperson for the school division, there have been four messages of correspondence delivered this calendar year. However, parents shared that many were receiving the information through word of mouth and amongst themselves.
“A lot of people in my neighborhood do not have vehicles, we are in a lower income area," Jenna Webb said, whose family lives in the Heritage Mobile Home Park. "I don’t know what to do.”
According to the division spokesperson:
"We are not immune to national and Virginia bus driver shortages. As a result of ongoing staffing challenges, WJCC Schools has considered various adjustments to create transportation efficiencies. Over the last two years, the division has contracted with a service provider to transport smaller groups of select students to and from school allowing our current drivers to focus on larger groups of students needing transport, matching student group size to the available vehicle/driver. This contractual arrangement is not a sustainable solution."
The added efficiency studies led to recommendations to consolidate stops and increase home-to-stop distances.
"Some people work, but do not have transportation," Stewart added.
Walking through the adjoining neighborhoods or along the stretch of road leading to Montague Elementary are not options for some parents, either.
"What am I supposed to do? Call my job and say I'll be late every day because of school?" Stewart asked.
A petition is now circulating among parents in this position, asking to get bus stops back in their neighborhoods.
"We recognize the potential challenge some families may face. As a school division, we are committed to safety for our students and will continue to work with families and school administrators to address questions and concerns about students traveling to and from school each day," a school division spokesperson added.