Mother concerned over daughter’s walk to school

One Mid-Missouri mother is concerned for her child’s walk to school, because she says the path is too dangerous.

The current Jefferson City School District policy is that high school students who live within 3.5 miles of the school must walk or get dropped off by a parent.

Tina Kittle and her 14-year-old daughter live 3.4 miles away from school and would have to walk along busy streets with no sidewalk.

“It’s not safe. There’s no sidewalk, there’s no crossing guard. You can’t expect a 14-year-old to walk that and be safe,” said Kittle.

Her daughter also has scoliosis and the walk could potentially cause her pain.

For the first few weeks of school, Kittle was forced to take off work or ask to leave early so that she could ensure her daughter got to and from school safely.

After that, the district allowed her to purchase a $110 bus pass. These passes are accessible to students within the 3.5 mile radius, but are limited.

“It’s a problem with the freshmen in particular and we want to do something to make it better,” said David Luther of the Jefferson City Public School District.

It is an issue common to freshmen, because before freshmen year, only students within one mile of school were asked to walk or get dropped off.