Parents of kids attending Brown Summit Middle School in Guilford County have some concerns with the way transportation will work this school year.
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GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. —
Students in the Guilford County School District will soon be heading back to the classroom.
Parents of kids attending Brown Summit Middle School have some concerns with the way transportation will work this year.
One parent told WXII it could be the deciding factor in whether or not he switches schools completely.
"You're telling parents three weeks before school starts that you can't transport our kids," Noel Pabon, who has a daughter enrolled at Brown Summit, said. "I guarantee parents will say, 'I want my child to go somewhere else then.'"
Pabon's daughter plans to attend Brown Summit as a sixth grader. However, an email from Guilford County Schools to parents last week has Pabon rethinking things.
"My daughter is excited to go to Brown Summit," Pabon said. "But now, I may have to tell them, 'Listen, you can't go because there's no bus transportation for you.'"
The email from Guilford County Schools says that any newly accepted students to Brown Summit will need to utilize community stops, meaning there won't be any home or neighborhood stops made. Instead, parents will have to choose a designated community stop.
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"I bought my first house this spring based off of my kid going to Brown Summit next year," Pabon said. "It's closer than where we were living, and it's on a main street — which means bus transportation will be easy — all of this was in the spring. Then, we get an email last Friday telling us that in three weeks, when school starts, there is no transportation unless we get our children to a community stop, which is essentially another school."
The closest community stop for Pabon is about three miles south at Dudley High School.
"My child would have to walk on their own which, for a sixth grader, I'm not going to do," Pabon said. "Especially a sixth grader on the spectrum."
As a working parent who can't really contribute to carpooling due to his schedule, Pabon said he wishes he had known about these changes prior to enrolling.
"This should've been figured out in the springtime," Pabon said. "Budget, no budget, whatever the cause may be-- this should've been told to us when we were applying, not three weeks before school."
Parents who use community stops will need to complete a transportation preference form.
The Guilford County School District says the community stops were implemented last year to align with the school's new bell schedule and accommodate after-school activities.
The district says more community stops were added this year because students who attend Brown Summit, a districtwide magnet school, come from as far away as High Point.
The district says it strives to be efficient with taxpayer dollars and provide safe and reliable transportation for all students.
The district is finalizing community stops and will share those with families next week.
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