KENMORE, Wash. — Dozens of Kenmore Elementary School families are sounding off after they said their neighborhood bus stop was removed by the district.
"We care enough about our kids and the safety of our kids to get a bus,” said Tasha Funcannon. A bus families in this Kenmore mobile home park rely on. "Not just for our neighborhood, but the whole entire neighborhood that surrounds us."
Funcannon said her daughter along with at least 24 other kids from Kenmore Elementary School used to use the bus stop along 182nd Street, off 68th Avenue.
"When they found out, they found out hard, because they were standing out there waiting for this bus,” said Funcannon. “The bus that never came."
Parents said they were never contacted about the change.
Many of the parents voiced their frustrations with the school board in a meeting on Monday night. "Please have in your hearts to bring the school bus back for these kids and us parents,” said one mother during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Some parents said they were told the removal was due to budget cuts and that the district plans on implementing a so-called "walking bus." That's when an educator meets up with the kids and walks with them on the nearly mile-long trek.
The district confirmed to KING 5 that the bus stop was removed due to a lack of funding from the state because it is located within a mile of the school.
Alexandra Rojos, another Kenmore Elementary School parent, said she and other parents are concerned about who their kids may encounter and the inclement weather they will face.
"People who have alcohol or drug issues," said Rojos. "This needs to be resolved immediately."
Until it is resolved: "Our saying is 'No bus, no kids,'" said Funcannon. Funcannon, Rojos and a handful of other parents will keep their children at home during their fight to bring back a bus.
“It's important to us. To them. We are begging you guys to please hear us and reinstate this bus," said Funcannon.
No one from the Northshore School District was available to speak with KING on Tuesday.
A spokesperson with the district emailed KING a statement saying in part that Northshore’s Transportation Department "takes student safety very seriously," and that nearly 50% of students use district-provide transportation.
But, the district said, the bus stop at Northeast 182nd Street was temporary until sidewalks were added to the area.
"Unfortunately, the state only reimburses Northshore for students living outside a one-mile radius from their school, which is the case for all schools," the statement said in part. The stop at Northeast 182nd Street between 68th Avenue Northeast and 73rd Avenue Northeast is within a one-mile radius to the school and was added years ago because there were no sidewalks available.
"In partnership with the City of Kenmore, Northshore applied for a grant to have safe sidewalks built for students served by this stop," the spokesperson said. "The community sidewalks are now complete, and so the bus stop in alignment with our transportation standards, has been removed."
The district said the route has been walked by transportation staff and district leaders, and that it includes "multiple ways to safely walk to school which include crosswalks and sidewalks." It said solutions were offered to parents, such as the walking bus, but that a bus stop would not be returning to the area.
"We are committed to finding a solution for our families, but due to our budget shortfall and continued underfunding of basic education by the state, it won’t include enhanced bus transportation.”