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Parents urge North Allegheny to reverse bus-stop cuts after 11 near-miss incidents in neighborhood
Summary
Multiple residents told the school board that a 2024 consolidation of elementary bus stops has exposed children to more crossings and traffic near Pioneer Drive and Settlers Walk; they asked the district to release routing data, conduct safety audits and restore stops where needed.
Parents and community members urged the North Allegheny School Board on May 21 to revisit a 2024 decision that eliminated about 40% of the district’s elementary bus stops, saying consolidated stops have increased walking distances, created new traffic concentrations and produced what they described as a pattern of near-miss incidents.
Jacqueline Love, who said she represents Settlers Walk families, told the board the cuts removed “4 to 5 bus stops” on Pioneer Drive and required many elementary students to walk up to 10 minutes and cross multiple streets to reach a consolidated stop. “Since September, there have been 11 documented near miss incidences involving vehicles and students ranging from kindergartners to fifth graders,” Love said.
Love said the district cited school board policy 8-10 when consolidating stops but that the policy “says nothing about adding stops back when necessary.” She also alleged the new routes have unequal distributions of stops—citing one route with a consolidated stop serving “25 to 30” students while another nearby route has five stops within a half-mile, one of which serves a single student.
Kristen Mays, who said she lives at 1851 Pioneer Drive, described a personal near-miss on April 15 when her 5-year-old ran toward the street and was stopped at the curb as a minivan braked to avoid hitting him. “Despite parents’ best efforts, we’re still having way too many close calls,” Mays said, and urged the board not to “wait for something terrible to happen.”
Both speakers asked the district for: release of the data and rationale used when stops were removed; safety audits at affected stops with parent input; and restoration of stops where schedules permit. Love said many families believe the time exists in the bus schedule to restore service and that the changes disproportionately affect working families and some students with disabilities.
A third speaker, Chelsea Stairs, praised recent changes to school-zone timing and thanked the district and local police for increased visibility and other safety steps in school zones. Stairs said updated kindergarten pickup and drop-off timing and coordination with local authorities improved safety on roads that are state-owned.
No formal board action or vote on routing was recorded at the meeting; the comments were part of the public-comment period. Board members did not announce an immediate plan to reinstate stops during the May 21 meeting.
