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Parents press Monongalia County Schools to reinstate bus stops on Stewards Run, cite safety and state regs
Summary
A resident urged the board to restore transportation service on Stewards Run, saying a new stop forces children to walk as much as two miles along unlit, unpaved roads. The speaker cited state school bus transportation regulations and asked the board to direct the transportation department to reinstate service.
Howard Mearns, a Morgantown resident, told the Monongalia County Board of Education during public comment on Oct. 14 that students who live on Stewards Run have lost a regular school bus stop and that the change creates safety and accessibility problems.
Mearns said the loss of routine transportation to and from his road was unexpected: the route historically served students from pre‑K through grade 12 and families chose homes on the road in part because of bus service. He said a temporary change in the 2024–25 school year became permanent for the 2025–26 routes and that his family now faces a new bus stop in a field about two miles from their home. “The current stop doesn't meet any of these requirements in our opinion,” Mearns said, referring to siting rules he later cited.
Mearns described Stewards Run as a dirt road off Indian Creek Road with no sidewalks or street lights and said one family was told the district could not change the route midyear and instead asked them to drive a student about 1.5 miles to a nearest stop. He said the new middle‑ and high‑school stop requires students to walk about two miles; he noted Google Maps estimates the walk at 31 to 45 minutes. Mearns also raised questions about whether the field selected for the new stop can safely accommodate an increasing number of vehicles in winter conditions.
He cited Title 126, Series 92, School Bus Transportation Regulations, and noted sections he said relate to eligibility and stop siting: section 3.5 (students living greater than two miles), 11.6 (locating stops to minimize walking on roadways) and 11.7 (minimizing the need to cross highways). Mearns asked the board to direct the transportation department to reinstate pickups on Stewards Run for middle‑ and high‑school students who live on the road.
The board did not take a formal action on the request during the meeting; no staff direction or formal motion to change routes was recorded on the transcript.
Less critical details: Mearns said he contacted the bus garage and received no timely callback, and that he emailed a district staff member (Mr. Lenhart) and later received a letter saying continuing to provide service would take too much time and delay other runs.
